


Something New

by AbelinCilion69 (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: And That Other One Too, But Then There Was That Chapter, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Highschoolstuck, Humanstuck, I Didnt Want To Have To Use Archive Warnings, In Which The Author Inserts A Million Ships, Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, Possible smut later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-02-21 21:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2482241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/AbelinCilion69
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Terezi had never anticipated the move. She loved her house in the woods. However, when her mother made up her mind, there was absolutely no changing it. Now, she's starting a new year at a new (public) school and she is terrified of everything. How on Earth is this homeschooled, blind girl going to manage something new?</p><p>(From Terezi's POV, unless started otherwise at the top of the chapter. )</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memories and Packing

**Author's Note:**

> I got bored and decided to start a fic! Not sure how long it will be, but it will definitely be super shippy and cute! Also, I rated it Teen And Up Audiences because I'm paranoid, probably will be very little to no graphic depictions of sex or violence!

     It was a long Saturday morning and you had no motivation to get out of bed.

     You knew exactly what would happen when you went downstairs. Your mom would give you a pile of 3-5 cardboard boxes and send you back to your room to start packing your things for 'the big move' as she oh so delicately put it.

     As if you even wanted to leave! When you were younger, you lived in Russia. That's where you were born, and that's where you lived until you were 6-years-old. It was only 2 months before your 7th birthday when you moved to the United States. You didn't live in a big city for too long. When you first moved, you went to New York City, but your father then shortly left to go be in the US Navy, leaving you and your sister with your mother. When you got the news that he died, your family moved to the relaxing woods of Northern Minnesota 'as a fresh start'. You were more attached to the beautiful environments of Russia, though. Maybe because you actually saw it...

     You lost your eyesight when you had just turned 6, playing with your friend Vriska. She was high class, as well as a high functioning psychopath. It was a solar eclipse that day, and she had dared you to stare directly at it the entire time. Not knowing that this could be potentially harmful, you did it. It burned your retinas, making your whole eye a fiery red color that it still was to this day, and causing you to go blind. Before that, they were a nice shade of teal. You two moved around the same time, to different places, making you lose contact. However, when you stumbled across the troll tag "arachnidsGrip" on a chat client that you used often called Trollian, you figured it couldn't have been anyone else. You two started talking, and you realized a lot had changed about her. While your dad had died, her parents both also joined the navy, claiming they were going to be pirates and leaving them (her and her sister) to foster care. She had been seriously abused in one household, neglected in another, spoiled in another, and in the most recent one, she had lost an arm and an eye to a vicious car crash. She often joked that the households she constantly flip-flopped around in didn't even have the decency to only take one of them-- her or her sister, whom she hated. She also had a couple of boyfriends, John Egbert and Tavros Nitram. You weren't quite sure how that worked, but you never questioned it.

     Among your other friends whom you met up with on Trollian were Karkat Vantas-- a boy who went to school with you in New York City, albino, and very loud and angry all of the time. When you moved, he gave you his troll tag so that you two could stay in touch. His crush on you was so obvious it almost hurt, whereas you thought you kept yours well hidden. Nepeta Leijon-- a girl who you never met in person, though you liked to roleplay with her sometimes. Kanaya Maryam-- one of Karkat's friends/his aunt who was also his age, fashionista lesbian. And Gamzee Makara, whom you didn't really like, but he was Karkat's friend, so you let it slide. The only real upside is that once you move to California, you'll have the opportunity to meet up with all of your online friends. Even Karkat, who constantly grumbled about how he liked New York better, and how at least it wasn't a million fucking degrees.

     Suddenly, you snapped out of your memories and thoughts as your mother called you downstairs. You raced down, nearly tripping over a couple of cardboard boxes with all of your sister's shit. You didn't even know why she was packing as if she was going to live with you guys, and not in some shitty dorm room at the college that she was going to. She didn't really want to be a lawyer, and you knew that, but your mom made her go to college, and given your family history, that seemed easiest to get into. You, on the other hand, had always dreamed of being a famous blind lawyer, having never lost a single case. Just like your mom.

     "Yes? " You asked. She grinned at you deviously, and you just knew that you were about to get your ass either interrogated or lectured.

     "Have you started packing your things yet? We're leaving for California tomorrow,  _dear_ , and judging by how many scalemates you have, I'd assume you have quite a bit of packing to do, wouldn't you? " The way she said dear was filled with venom, and made you want to hide under your desk.

     "Yes, I certainly do, mom... I'll go start now... " You mumbled, terrified.

     "Good girl. " She said, shooing you off to your room. You bolted, after having been handed a few boxes, and started throwing things into boxes. One for clothes, one for scalemates, one for everything else. All the big things would be on a moving truck, so as far as you were concerned, you were all packed.

    "I'm done, mom! " You yelled. She came upstairs to inspect your boxes, and after receiving a nod of approval, you close and duct tape all of the boxes shut. Afterward, you open your laptop and log onto Trollian. You see that Vriska and Karkat are on, making you grin.


	2. Talking To Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi talks to her friends about moving and why she doesn't want to.

**gallowsCalibrator** **[GC]** began trolling **arachnidsGrip [AG]** at 14:28.

 

 **GC** : H3Y VR1SK4!

 **AG** : Heeeeeeeey Tereziiiiiiii! What's up?

 **GC** : NOTH1NG 1N P4RT1CUL4R, JUST B31NG 4NNOY3D 4T MOM

 **AG** : Why so????????

 **GC** : B3C4US3 FOR SOM3 FUCK1NG R34SON, SH3 TH1NKS TH4T SH3 SHOULD JUST C4RRY H3R 16 4ND 19 Y34R OLD D4UGHT3RS 4CROSS TH3 FUCK1NG COUNTRY! 1 DONT W4NT TO FUCK1NG MOV3!!!

 **AG** : Why noooooooot? It means we can finally hang out again! I have so many things planned for us!

 **AG** : Allllllll of the things.

 **AG** : All of them!

 **GC** : 1 KNOW, 4ND 1M 3XC1T3D, BUT 1M GO1NG TO M1SS 1T H3R3... 3V3RY T1M3 1M G3TT1NG US3D TO 4 PL4C3, SH3 D3C1D3S TH4T W3R3 MOV1NG!

 **AG** : Oh come on! Now you're exagger8ing! This is only, what, the second time you've moved????????

 **GC** : SO?!

 **AG** : Okay, okay, soooooooorry!!!!!!!!

 **GC** : WH4T3V3R...

 **AG** : No, I am! 8ut, I'm too wound up in the excitement of you moving here to 8e any help with your annoyance! Why not talk to your 8oyfriend a8out it????????

 **GC** : K4RK4T 1S NOT MY BOYFR13ND!!!

 **AG** : Then how did you know I was talking a8out Karkat????????

 **AG** : Aaaaaaaanyway, I need to go now!

 **AG** : 8ye Terezi!

 

 **arachnidsGrip [AG]** ceased trolling **gallowsCalibrator [GC]** at 14:38.

 

     Yeah, you probably should have known not to turn to Vriska when searching for sympathy. However, you were now just as annoyed at her as you were at your mother, because she should have known better than to call Karkat your boyfriend! HE WAS NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!!!!! You were probably bright red in the face now, because now you were thinking about if he was your boyfriend.

 

 **gallowsCalibrator [GC]** began trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]** at 14:41.

 

 **GC** : H3Y K4RKL3S!

 **CG** : DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO FUCKING CALL ME THAT EVERY DAMN TIME THAT WE TALK? IT'S SO FUCKING ANNOYING.

 **GC** : NO, 1TS NOT! 1TS CUT3!

 **CG** : WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO BE CUTE?

 **GC** : TOO B4D!

 **GC** : 3MBR4C3 TH3 CUT3N3SS, K4RK4T!

 **GC** : 4CC3PT 1T!!! >:]

 **CG** : YEAH, YEAH, FUCK OFF...

 **CG** : DID YOU HAVE A REASON FOR BOTHERING ME OR DO YOU JUST WANT TO BE ANNOYING, AS FUCKING ALWAYS?

 **GC** : W3LL, 1M 4NNOY3D 4T MY MOM, B3C4US3 SH3S B31NG 4 B1TCH... OTH3RW1S3, W3LL, VR1SK4 TOLD M3 TO T4LK TO MY BOYFR13ND, 4ND 1 C4N ONLY 4SSUM3 TH4TS YOU! H3H3H3!

 **CG** : FUCK, I AM NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND!

 **GC** : TH4TS WH4T 1 S41D!

 **CG** : AND, WELL, I GUESS I GET THE WHOLE "PARENTS BEING A FUCKASS" THING...

 **CG** : WAIT, IS THIS ABOUT THE MOVING THING?

 **GC** : M444YB3...

 **CG** : GOD DAMN IT, TEREZI, I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT YOU CAN'T CHANGE HER MIND ABOUT IT!

 **CG** : JUST THINK ABOUT SEEING ME AND VRISKA AND ALL OF THE OTHER FUCKASSES OUT HERE.

 **CG** : OR SMELL, OR WHATEVER THE FUCK!

 **GC** : TH4TS...

 **GC** : R34LLY GOOD 4DV1C3

 **GC** : TH4NKS K4RK4T...

 **CG** : NO FUCKING PROBLEM, NOW LEAVE ME ALONE...

 **GC** : H3H3H3, <3!

 **CG** : ...

 **CG** : <3

 **GC** : 4WWW, H3H3H3!

 **CG** : FUCK OFF!

 

 **carcinoGeneticist [CG]** ceased trolling **gallowsCalbrator [GC]** at 14:51.

 

     You thought you felt better after talking to Karkat. He gave you some good advice. Even though spending time with him was all you were able to think about, it was still good advice. He could be pretty okay for the most aggressive and angry 17-year-old boy you knew. Maybe, more than pretty okay? _Or maybe the person you've had a crush on since you were old enough to even know what a crush is?_ You had to shoosh your internal thoughts, blushing deeply at your own mental statement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to make the chats with colors on AO3, so I'm sorry! DX


	3. Leaving Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi's family finally moves to San Diego, California, about 1650 miles away from her little forest in International Falls, Minnesota. The trip is just over a day and she has a lot of thoughts about it!

     You didn't want to go. You spent every last moment walking through your empty house, smelling the forest and the musty air through windows. The for sale sign on the lawn didn't make you feel any better. After you were done with your last moments in your house, you went off adventuring in the forest. You climbed the trees and interacted with the animals that would allow you near them. Just like when you were a little kid. You stopped that about when you turned thirteen. You weren't surprised to find that you missed it.

     Finally, you heard your mom yelling for you to get in the car, and you ran back as fast as you could. You got there after a few minutes and took another to catch your breath before climbing in. It was breezy and cold and winter had only just ended. There were still puddles littering the ground marking where the snow used to be. You were going to miss it, all of it. The way the snow fell gently onto the ground into pile, hills, _mountains_ of pure white beauty, though it was nothing compared to Russia.

     "Do we _have_ to move? " You whined, though you already knew the answer.

     "Yes, Terezi. " Your mother groaned. She frowned at you as you groaned and climbed into the back of the car. At least moving to San Diego would allow you to meet all of your friends. Although Nepeta lived in San Fransisco, you knew she would still come to see you sometimes. If not you, her best friend, Equius Zahhak.

     Slowly, the car started moving. It backed out of the driveway and started to drive down the road. You had no idea what was going on outside of the car anymore, as anything that might have given off any scents or tastes that you would have been able to pick up on were a blur of movement. Unfortunately, both you and your mother were both blind, so you had to allow your sister Latula to drive. You could say that she wasn't the best driver, but that was obvious. She was reckless and constantly took risks.

 

* * *

 

 

     It had been 3 hours. It was 6:00 PM, and your sister was still driving. You and your small family had just left Minnesota, according to your sister. There was another 20 or so hours ahead of you.

     Driving through North Dakota was loud and obnoxious. People were driving home from church, the opposite direction that you were going in. It was annoying as hell. Your mom was on the phone, quite apparently with her company. She was discussing the details of working at the new office in California. Meanwhile, you sat in the backseat, listening to the glorious perfection known as My Chemical Romance. You mouthed the words to [Teenagers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=updoMIHMBbU), a song recommended to you by Karkat when you were thirteen that had since become your favorite. It wasn't even that he had recommended it, it was that you just thought that it was just about the _best song ever_. The song had just ended, and [Welcome to the Black Parade](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWhr6Uk1K1E) starting playing. The melodic piano opening was just perfect to your attuned ears.

     Your mom tapped your shoulder, and you made sure to pause the song. You didn't want to miss a single note, even if you had heard it a million times! You looked up at your mother's face, and her smile was so frightening _you_ could almost see it. It was very obviously fake.

     "Y-yes, mom? " Damn it, you hated how scared she could make you! She was your _mother_ and you would one day be able to stand up to her. Not today. Until that day, you would continue to stutter at her almost every time you opened a conversation.

     "Terezi, could you turn down your music, sweetheart? After all, your sister and I want to listen to our own music! We won't bother you so long as you turn it down and we can all listen to the kinds of music we want, now doesn't that sound fair? " You just nodded, before remembering that she had the very same disability as you did, though she had the pleasure of being born that way rather than going blind the way you did.

     "Yes, of course, mother... " You muttered, begrudgingly turning down the volume on your iPod. She smiled wider and turned back.

     Sometimes, you were grateful for your [Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexical-gustatory_synesthesia). It allowed you to smell and taste colors and emotions (never words though, which was a common form of the rare neurological phenomenon), which was a way for you to see. But other times, it seriously bothered you, because you never really knew peoples' exact details, just the eery basics, like your mother's often terrifying grin.

     You played your music again, listening and mouthing the newly started lyrics to Welcome to the Black Parade.

_When I was a young boy,_   
_My father took me into the city_   
_To see a marching band._   
  
_He said, "Son when you grow up,_   
_would you be the saviour of the broken,_   
_the beaten and the damned?"_   
_He said "Will you defeat them,_   
_your demons, and all the non-believers,_   
_the plans that they have made?"_   
_"Because one day I'll leave you,_   
_A phantom to lead you in the summer,_   
_To join The Black Parade."_   
  
_When I was a young boy,_   
_My father took me into the city_   
_To see a marching band._   
_He said, "Son when you grow up,_   
_would you be the saviour of the broken,_   
_the beaten and the damned?"_   
  
_Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me._   
_And other times I feel like I should go._   
_And through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets._   
_And when you're gone we want you all to know._   
  
_We'll carry on,_   
_We'll carry on_   
_And though you're dead and gone believe me_   
_Your memory will carry on_   
_We'll carry on_   
_And in my heart I can't contain it_   
_The anthem won't explain it._   
  
_A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams_   
_Your misery and hate will kill us all._   
_So paint it black and take it back_   
_Let's shout it loud and clear_   
_Defiant to the end we hear the call_   
  
_To carry on_   
_We'll carry on_   
_And though you're dead and gone believe me_   
_Your memory will carry on_   
_We'll carry on_   
_And though you're broken and defeated_   
_Your weary widow marches_   
  
_On and on we carry through the fears_   
_Ooh oh ohhhh_   
_Disappointed faces of your peers_   
_Ooh oh ohhhh_   
_Take a look at me cause I could not care at all_   
  
_Do or die, you'll never make me_   
_Because the world will never take my heart_   
_Go and try, you'll never break me_   
_We want it all, we wanna play this part_   
_I won't explain or say I'm sorry_   
_I'm unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar_   
_Give a cheer for all the broken_   
_Listen here, because it's who we are_   
_I'm just a man, I'm not a hero_   
_Just a boy, who had to sing this song_   
_I'm just a man, I'm not a hero_   
_I! don't! care!_   
  
_We'll carry on_   
_We'll carry on_   
_And though you're dead and gone believe me_   
_Your memory will carry on_   
_We'll carry on_   
_And though you're broken and defeated_   
_Your weary widow marches on_   
  
_Do or die, you'll never make me_   
_Because the world will never take my heart_   
_Go and try, you'll never break me_   
_We want it all, we wanna play this part (We'll carry on)_   
  
_Do or die, you'll never make me (We'll carry on)_   
_Because the world will never take my heart (We'll carry on)_   
_Go and try, you'll never break me (We'll carry)_   
_We want it all, we wanna play this part (We'll carry on)_

 

* * *

 

     Another 5 hours passed, until finally your sister pulled over and your small family resigned to a hotel in the middle of Montana for the night. It was 10:00 PM, and your mom had explained to you and Latula very clearly that you were to wake up at precisely 4:30 AM. It wouldn't be much sleep, but it was something, and you were grateful for that. You were also grateful for the stable internet connection.

     The second you walked into yours and Latula's bedroom, you flopped onto one of the two comfortable twin sized beds and opened your laptop, while your mom opened the next door down in the hallway. You opened YouTube first and started to play your favorite playlist, with all of your favorite songs. You turned the volume down on your laptop to almost non-existent, as your hearing had sharpened incredibly since you went blind, and you didn't want to wake your mom. That usually happened when one of someone's senses died. The rest got a lot better. The first song to play was [This Is War](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMAVLXk9QWA) by Thirty Seconds To Mars. You didn't bother singing along, immediately opening Trollian. You hoped Karkat was awake. Only, you knew he would be, since he was an insomniac, and it was highly unlikely that he would be sleeping at anytime before 2:00 AM.

 

 **gallowsCalibrator [GC]** began trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]** at 22:24.

 

 **GC** : H3Y K4RK4T

 **CG** : HOLY SHIT, TEREZI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING AWAKE?

 **CG** : ISN'T IT LIKE 10:30 OUT THERE?

 **GC** : H3H3H3! 4WWW, 4R3 YOU WORR13D?

 **GC** : W3LL, 1F YOU MUST KNOW, 1TS 10:24 OUT H3R3 4ND TH4T 1S 4 P3RF3CTLY R34SON4BL3 T1M3 TO B3 4W4K3 WH3N YOU H4V3 B33N ON 4 RO4D TR1P S1NC3 3:00 PM TO MOVE 4CROSS TH3 COUNTRY 4ND ONLY JUST STOPP3D 4T SOM3 SH1TTY HOT3L 1N TH3 M1DDL3 OF MONT4N4

 **GC** : 1M QU1T3 FR4NKLY SURPR1S3D TH4T TH3R3S 1NT3RN3T 4T 4LL

 **CG** : FUCK, I'M SORRY. AT LEAST YOU'LL BE IN CALIFORNIA WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS. WHEN ARE YOU GUYS GETTING BACK ON THE ROAD?

 **GC** : 4ROUND 4:30 OR 5:00...

 **CG** : HOLY FUCK.

 **CG** : THAT'S LATER THAN I EXPECTED.

 **GC** : 4M.....

 **CG** : OH...

 **CG** : YOU SHOULD PROBABLY GET SOME SLEEP THEN...

 **CG** : I MEAN, I CAN ONLY EXPECT THAT WE'RE HANGING OUT THE SECOND YOU GET HERE, AND FUCK IF I'M GOING TO ALLOW YOU TO BE DEAD WHEN WE DO.

 **GC** : 4W, H3H3!

 **GC** : 1M NOT GONN4 B3 D34D, 1 PROM1S3! 1 JUST W4NT3D TO T4LK FOR 4 L1TTL3 WH1L3, S1NC3 W3R3 4BOUT TO M33T 1N P3RSON!

 **GC** : ...4G41N...

 **CG** : YEAH, YEAH...

 **CG** : LOOK, I HAVE TO GO BEFORE MY BROTHER LECTURES MY ASS OFF ABOUT BEING AWAKE AT AN UNREASONABLE HOUR...

 **CG** : TALK TO YOU TOMORROW?

 **GC** : WH3N3V3R 1M 4V41L4BL3! <3

 

 **gallowsCalibrator [GC]** ceased trolling **carcinoGeneticist [CG]** at 22:34.

 

 **CG** : ...

 **CG** : <3

 

 **carcinoGeneticist [CG]** ceased trolling **gallowsCalibrator [GC]** at 22:35.

 

     Awww, he was such a softie, even if he refused to admit it! Now that you had talked to Karkat, you could--

     Oh, it seemed like one of your friends was messaging you!

 

 **arcenicCatnip [AC]** began trolling **gallowsCalibrator [GC]** at 22:36.

 

 **AC** : :33 < *ac pounces her furiend happily, having heard a rumor that the mighty dragoness was finally moving* is it true, or was karkitty making that purt up??

 **GC** : NOP3, H3H3H3! 1TS 4BSOLUT3LY 100% TRU3, N3P!

 **AC** : :33 < 33p! that is so pawsitively pawsome! are mew stopping in san furansisco?

 **GC** : M4YB3... 1T 4LL D3P3NDS ON 1F MY S1ST3R 1S COMP3T3NT 3NOUGH TO NOT CR4SH TH3 C4R! BUT, 1 H4V3 F41TH

 **AC** : :33 < oh, good! ive b33n meaning to s33 mew fur a while now! affur all, mew are pawsome! and karkitty hasnt told mew, but you are purobably his fafurite thing to talk about! 33X

 **GC** : DO 1 SM3LL...

 **GC** : J34LOUSY? *TH3 M1GHTY DR4GON 4PPRO4CH3S H3R L1ON FR13ND, SN1FF1NG 4T H3R CUR1OUSLY*

 **AC** : :33 < of course not!

 **AC** : :33 < even if i did like karcat, its just a silly crush! i mean, he obviously likes mew, and efuryone knows it!

 **AC** : :33 < according to vwhiskers, hes mewr boyfuriend!

 **GC** : H3 1S NOT MY BOYFR13ND!!!

 **AC** : :33 < h33h33, so defensive!

 **AC** : :33 < i was only kittening! take a joke!

 **GC** : *GC ROLLS H3R 3Y3S* WH4T3V3R...

 **AC** : :33 < oh, i better go! its eight furty six out here and i n33d to get ready fur bed!

 **AC** : :33 < *ac tacklepounces on her furiend, giving purezi a big hug!* goodnight!

 

 **arcenicCatnip [AC]** ceased trolling **gallowsCalibrator [GC]** at 22:48.

 

     NOW you could get some rest.  After all, you had talked to your friends. You closed your laptop and put it on the almost-empty end table, quickly taking off your bright red sunglasses and placing them next to it. You then laid down and closed your eyes. You counted the seconds in your head until you fell asleep. _104, 105, 106... Zzz..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have family who lived in San Diego, and a few of my uncles were actually born there, so I figured that it would be better than my original thought of Chico! Mainly because I could get help on visuals (I probably won't need many of those. XD ) from my grandfather and my mom! A couple of the other places I considered them living in were Bakersfield, Chico, Fresno, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and San Fransisco, but I eventually chose what was best. I also paid tribute to the San Fransisco idea by having Nepeta live there, and to !


	4. Not Enough Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is just not enough fucking time until Terezi will arrive in San Diego!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is from Karkat's POV.

     Fuck. She was coming. She was fucking coming and you did not have enough time. You didn't have enough time to prepare to tell Terezi Pyrope how you feel, and you didn't have time to prepare for being rejected, because _holy fucking shit she would be here in an hour._ But that was alright. Because you knew that she wouldn't reject you, even if she wanted to. If she liked you back, she wouldn't say yes. She'd fucking laugh in your face and kiss your cheek and call you an idiot. And if she didn't... she would probably just walk away, and leave you to never see her again. That was pretty much hell in your opinion. But that was alright because you weren't focusing on the possible outcomes of telling her so much as the actual fact that _holy shit_ you were telling her. In less than an hour, she would be here and you would tell her.

     Dave punched you in the arm and gave a sort of sideways smile that made you cringe from how much it made you want to punch him in the face. "Relax, man. From what you told me about this chick, she won't fuckin' turn you down. After all, I taught you. " This wasn't even a little bit true, as you didn't even ask him to 'help' you. He overheard you talking to Kanaya about Terezi and thought it was his own personal liberty to tell you how girls worked, no matter how much you told him to fuck off.

     But, despite Dave's words that you thought were meant to be calming, you were still panicking. You turned the words over in your head repeatedly, assessing exactly what you were going to tell her to make sure it was perfect, and then changing it anyway. "Fuck off, Strider. I'm trying to confess my feelings to her, not convince her that I hang around total douche-canoes all of the time. " You grumbled half-assedly, and he just walked away smirking.

 

* * *

 

     Fuck, not even half an hour left! You swore that in the next twenty minutes, whatever fucking higher power that may be out there was going to strike you down and leave Terezi to blindly stare at your dead body. Of course, she wouldn't be able to see it, so she would just think you had forgotten about her. Of course, you hadn't. You were never not thinking about her. You constantly acted as if your life depended on meeting her.

     But now that it was actually happening, you were terrified out of your fucking mind. But that was alright. You would meet her now. Again. In person. You wondered what she looked like now that it had been years and she was used to being blind. Of course, you already sort of knew the answer to that. After all, you saw the pictures that she had sent you. You had been thinking about the exact lines and details of her face. You loved her. You were sure of that, and you had been for years. You were actually pretty sure that you were absolutely 100% fucking in love with her, and not just some love struck 16-year-old boy who only had one thing on his mind: his girlfriend's body. Of course, she wasn't your girlfriend. It wasn't like you'd turn down the chance to sleep with her, anyway. After all, in blatant terms that people your age would understand, she was fucking hot. You weren't thinking about that, though. Not in the slightest. You weren't thinking about her probable curves, because hot damn you had seen the pictures and... no, you weren't thinking about that at all! But in that moment, you swore you could hear a car behind you, making you turn. Your palms had never seemed so sticky with sweat, and you couldn't remember ever feeling so nervous.

     Finally, you gathered the courage to turn and look to see who it is. _It's gonna be her, it's gonna be her, it's gonna be her, it's gonna be_ _\--_ It was just your dad getting home from work.

 

* * *

 

 

     It was only five minutes until she got there, at least according to the message you had just gotten on Trollian. You stared at the house across the street from yours, the one that would soon be hers. You finally had the speech prepared in your head, perfect and including everything you wanted to tell her. But what if it wasn't perfect? What if she hated you after you told her?

     Oh shit, it was too late. You had been counting down in your head. She was 4 minutes and 13 seconds early. She had told you it would be five minutes, how could she have been so wrong?! It had only been 47 seconds! Or, it had only been 47 seconds until you had received the message... You always did get messages a couple minutes late, but you thought that it would be better since she was in California. And even then, she would still be a couple minutes early! Fuck, you were not ready for this, _you were not ready for this_ _._

     The car was parked across the street, and you suddenly had 93 pounds of Russian blind girl on you. You knew that she wasn't technically Russian because she had been in the US longer than she had been in Russia. But she still identified as Russian, and you weren't about to argue. You hugged her, smiling ever so softly, but only for a moment. You knew that if you allowed yourself to smile around her too much she would demand that you did it all the time.

     "Hehehe, hey Karkat! " She giggled and almost yelled. She had gotten a lot more loud than you remembered, as if it mattered. She was extremely shy and quiet before and now it had gotten much better. Though she was a little bit too loud now. Still no where near as loud as you.

     "Hey Terezi... " You mumbled, and her wide grin seemed to falter. She rested her head on your shoulder and took your hand, and you could swear your heart skipped a beat before you calmed down and pressed a kiss to her hairline. This made her smile softly, though not like her original grin. It looked a lot more tame, and a lot more genuine, though you knew that her grin was still far away from fake.

     "Are you okay? " She asked after a minute, making you realize how quiet you were being. Fuck, you were already getting used to that.

     "Yeah, I'm fine... I'm sorry... I just have a whole lot of fucking shit on my mind right now... " She frowned slightly and nuzzled you.

     "Like? "

     You smirked slightly, even though you knew she couldn't see it. Possibly  _because_ she couldn't see it. "You. " This seemed to make her worry and you kissed her temple gently. She visually calmed down at that, making you smile softly.

     "And what about me are you thinking of? " She blushed lightly and you grinned.

     "Everything. Mainly how I feel. " She raised an eye brow at that, so you continued. "I think I might be in love with you. I mean, maybe I'm just some dumbass teenager, but I do think that-- " She didn't even have the common courtesy to let you finish your speech before she was kissing you, but you didn't complain. No, instead, you kissed her back. Because that was what made sense to you. She wrapped her arms loosely around your neck and rested your hands on her waist. And then you remembered that her mom was across the street, probably watching you two (even if she was blind), which made you pull away. She whined at that.

     "Karkat, what the fuck? " She whined out, and went to kiss you again, but you stopped her. Your reply was only a mutter.

     "Your mom is watching us. " She gave you a skeptical look at that, so you pecked her lips and rested your forehead against hers. "We'll talk later, okay? " She smiled widely at that and kissed you again for a minute before walking back to her house.

     You felt a little like you were rushing into something, but oh well, anyone who wanted to complain could cry you a river, build you a bridge and get the fuck over it, because you gave absolutely no shits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know it's shitty, and I know that I sort of have them rushing into things, but I had so many ideas over the past coupe days while my internet was down that I guess I just sort of merged three different chapters. DX


	5. Rushing Into Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One month later (forgive the timeskip, I had so many ideas and if I wrote them all I'm sure that this would already be about 50 chapters long) Karkat and Terezi rush into things. A lot of things.
> 
> Warning for almost smut and very mild sexual content because, holy shit, it's chapter 5 and I have to have it because I have ALLLLL of the ideas, however, they get cockblocked!

     It was 1:30 AM and you were spending the night at Karkat's house for the first time. It took a long time to convince his dad that you weren't trouble, but that was alright. The month was worth it. You felt a little bit like you were rushing into things, but it wasn't that big of a deal, because it was with Karkat, and he was probably the only person that you would have thought it alright to rush into things with. The two of you were sitting on his bed, you in his lap, and kissing, his tongue brushing yours. You were completely ignoring the movie that was playing on the TV, as if you even cared. You hadn't really been paying attention in the first place, because you had never particularily liked romantic comedies in the first place.

     You pulled his shirt off and he blushed lightly, both of you breathing heavily. You rested your forehead against his and he smiled at you. You remembered how much shorter than you he had seemed when the two of you were younger, but now, it was just sad how much taller than you he was (3-5 inches). You dropped his black sweater onto the floor next to his bed and kissed him briefly, before traveling down his neck. His breath hitched for a moment and you grinned, placing a small nip there. You rested your hands on his chest and he shivered. They were ice cold, and his chest was extremely warm, as always. That was one of the reasons that you loved him, among many others. Or maybe you were just a teenage girl, who knew? You knew what you felt, though.

     You made a small sound of happiness before speaking. "Mmm, hey Karkat? " You spoke barely above a whisper, not wanting to get caught and lose your hard-earned trust with his father. His father, you knew, thought you were a good kid and a good influence on Karkat. Whenever he told you this, you just nodded and focused on the "on Karkat" part of that sentence.

     "Hmmm? " He smiled at you and kissed your forehead, but you didn't accept it. Instead, you pressed your lips to his and lingered there for a moment. Then, you nipped his lower lip and pulled away, resting your forehead back against his.

     "I was thinking... what would you think about fucking? Like, right now. " He gave you an odd look, so you continued. "I mean, your dad is asleep, and Kankri doesn't seem like the type to stay awake until 1:30 AM. And you could pass it off as your insomnia if we did get caught, I mean, the whole being awake thing. " He grinned lopsidedly and kissed you, pulling you against him. You decided to take that as a yes. If that wasn't enough evidence, he was soon pulling away to answer, making you whine. He didn't get you to do that often at this point.

     "Fuck yes. " You licked up his neck and nipped his ear before kissing him softly.

 

* * *

 

 

     It had been about half an hour of just making out at that point, and you honestly wanted it to just speed up already. Of course, all of the after school specials would tell you that you would regret it, but you didn't give a single shit. All you knew was that, when you had talked to your mom about it (because you couldn't lie to her, and you were shitty and hiding things from her, so you just flat out asked her) she said that it was risky, but that it usually felt good. At least she was honest and not trying to protect your innocence.

     At least neither of you were wearing clothes at this point, though Karkat had insisted on wrapping you in a blanket in case someone did walk in on you.

     He was planting kisses on your stomach, making you groan quietly. You opened your mouth and let out the mildly embarrassing sounds as he kissed back up, placing a soft nip on your breast before capturing your lips again.

     He pulled away and gazed at you for a moment, and that was just about when your entire life became slow motion as there was a soft knock on the door and it was very quietly opened. When you looked, you already knew it was Karkat's obnoxious older brother Kankri. You could smell his bright candy red sweater, which he wore constantly. You weren't even sure that he changed to sleep.

     Karkat just groaned before he spoke and the two of you sat up. "What the fuck do you want, Kankri? "

     "I was just going to tell you to turn down the volume on your movie, as, where I do not find it appropriate that you are awake this late, others in the house are trying to get some sleep, unlike your own insomniac self. I apologize if that sentence was triggering to anyone here, but I highly doubt that is anyone's concern right now. As well as the fact that the two of you have apparently been doing something rather inappropriate. However, if it is calming to anyone's concerns, I will not be telling our father, as I find Miss Pyrope to be a good influence on you 90% of the time... " He just droned on and on, as always.

     "I'm sorry, Kankri... We were just having a little bit of fun, and I did not mean for it to have gone this far. I will make sure to turn down the volume on our movie, and I will also make sure that this never happens again. " Kankri just nodded in acknowledgement and left the room, and Karkat whined. You kissed his cheek and smiled softly, whispering. "I was only saying it to make him leave. We'll do it at my house from now on, my mom knows what's going on. " Karkat's eyes widened slightly and you giggled at his expression.

     "But we're not legal, and she should know that! " He almost yelled. You shushed him and kiss him softly.

     "It was 16 in Minnesota. I can argue that if the law does get involved, but you're only 4 months older than me, anyway, so there wouldn't be many issues. Unless your dad happens to know that law. " He groaned and shook his head, tossing you his sweater and your underwear. You put the clothes on and watched (damn you wished you could see) as he put on some sweatpants and a white wifebeater. He then climbed into bed and you curled up next to him.

     Oh well, you suppose it wasn't the end of the universe if the two of you waited a while.

 


	6. School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi goes to school.

     You walked in with Karkat, fingers laced together, as you went to the office to get your schedule. It was actually happening. You were at school. In California. Winter break came later here than it did in Minnesota, and your mom had only just registered you, so you hadn't gone to school here yet.

     "I hope I have at least one class with you... " You whined and he rolled his eyes. You pulled him into a soft kiss and he was soon over the eye rolling, his hands going to your waist. You pulled away quickly, though. "We can do that later, I need to go get my schedule before we're late to class. " He whined for once, and you just grinned at him. " _Later_. Just remember that it's a Friday. " He immediately took out his phone to text Kankri to tell his dad that he wouldn't be home tonight, but you made him put it way.

     "Tereziii-- "

     "You should wait until after school, and then tell him that you're going to study group. Then you'd have an excuse _every week._ " He grinned softly at that and you kissed his nose. "Now come ooon! "

 

* * *

 

     "First hour? "

     "History. "

     "Second hour? "

     "Art. "

     "Third hour? "

     "Chemistry. "

     "Fourth? "

     "Child Development. "

     "Fifth? "

     "English. "

     "Sixth? "

     "Gym. "

     "Seventh? "

     "Algebra. "

     "Congratulations, Terezi Pyrope, you successfully have 4 classes with me. "

     "Which ones? "

     "History, Chemistry, Child Development and English. " You grinned at the same time as he groaned. You found it slightly ironic that you two had history and chemistry, and you couldn't wait to sit next to him so you could be partners in Child Dev. It was basically the best sounding thing ever.

     "Sounds like fun. " You nipped his lower lip. "Come on, we have to go to class. "

 

* * *

 

 

     "Is it always like that??? " You asked after school excitedly. You loved it. Karkat had seemed bored through all of the classes you had together, but you loved it!

     "Always like what? Boring as shit? Pretty much. " You punched him in the arm and he whined. The two of you had just talked to Kankri and, though you had received some skepticism at first, you told him that you were going to tutor him in English. You were honestly just guessing, but you weren't surprised to find out that it wasn't his strongest subject.

     "Well, _I_ thought it was fun! " You grinned and he pecked your lips. You whined this time and kissed him for real, seeing as you hated just small pecks.

     "Of course you did, Miss Perfect-Grades-And-Nothing-Bad-To-Go-On-Your-Record. " You could practically hear him roll his eyes at you.

     "If you tried a little harder, you could have straight A's too. " You had had straight A's since you received your first report card, and you had never gotten anything lower than an A- on a test. Karkat, on the other hand, suffered from a severe case of not giving a shit about school.

     "And if I don't want straight A's? "

     "Why would you not want straight A's?! It makes it easier to get into a nice college if you have straight A's! And going to college makes getting a job infinitely easier in every way! "

     "Okay, okay, fuck... " He groaned and you smiled softly. You were going to fucking love school, compared to being homeschooled.


	7. Kanaya Maryam and Rose Lalonde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi meets Kanaya and Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please know that any typos during Rose's dialog are intentional!

     "It appears that you have brought along a friend, Karkat... " Kanaya enunciated the beginning of every word, which made her sound a bit fancy. Meanwhile, you stood with Karkat in the doorway of his aunts' (Kanaya and Porrim) and his grandmother's house, holding his hand for dear life. You'd heard a lot of nice things about Miss Rosa, and about how she wasn't his biological grandmother, but she had adopted his father when he was just a baby, and had been the closest thing to a grandparent he had ever known. After all, his mother (who you later learned was Nepeta's mom and that, in a way, that made them half siblings, because they shared a mother) abandoned him before he was born, and he had never met her parents, and his father's real parents remained a mystery. However, she sounded really fucking badass, so it was okay.

     "You constantly bring your fucking girlfriend, but when I bring mine, I've broken a law?! " He snapped at her too easily, as if he had already been mad at her, or as if he was nervous about something. You knew that much about him, if not every single other detail. You continued to watch, not commenting on this, because you figured that she already knew this, being his aunt and all.

     "I was not complaining, simply stating a fact. Please, come in, both of you. " She smiled softly at you, and the two of you walked in, Karkat grumbling apologies. He was never one to apologize, so this was surprising.

     "Hello, Terezi, was it? My name is Kanaya Maryam. I am Karkat's adoptive aunt, though we are the same age. And this is my girlfriend, Rose Lalonde. " Rose smelled of peaches and flowers (roses and violets, specifically) and a little bit like alcohol as well, but you suspected that wasn't normal for her. Kanaya, on the other hand, reminded you of mint and green tea. It was nice. Kanaya answered your question, though (if you could even call it that. "She is a bit intoxicated at the moment, so I apologize ahead of time for anything she may say that could come off as offensive... " She whispered and Karkat groaned. It was quite apparent that he had witnessed Miss Lalonde like this before.

     "Hey, I coud-- _hic-_ \- hear you! And, if you musd know, I am perfecdly c-- cop-- capble uff keeping cotr-- control uff my own--  _hic_ \-- stademends! " Rose slurred at you.

     "Of course you are, darling. " Kanaya sighed, clearly exasperated. You couldn't imagine if Karkat was constantly drunk and you had to put up with it. Of course, you would, because you love him, but it would still be difficult. And probably sad for you to watch him (theoretically speaking) slip away from you so often when he did drink. Which, to your knowledge, he did not.

     "I can tell-- _hic_ \-- when you are being sarcaztic! And I musd say, I donut appreshate the rudeniz! So if you coud jusd shut op! "

     "Rose, dear, these are the exact kind of comments I was referring to... "

     "Uh... should we go? " You asked and everyone turned to face you, almost looking surprised by the fact that you had spoken at all.

     "No, it's quite alright... She's like this often, any moment she will be bursting into tears and apologizing repeatedly for no apparent reason, and then she will just want to watch the movie. " Kanaya looked slightly frustrated by Rose's behavior, but you didn't blame her. Instead, you played with the ends of your hair, which you had dyed bright teal and cherry red three years ago, and were starting to fade.

 

* * *

 

 

     It was 3 hours later and you had only just finished the movie, because Rose's drunken fit had lasted a lot longer than any of you had expected, and then you had to restart the movie halfway through because Rose threw another fit and all of you missed a large portion of it. You and Karkat were just leaving when Rose started sobbing into Kanaya's arms, and Porrim and Rosa got home.

     "Always lovely to see you, Terezi. " Porrim said. You weren't quite sure where this was coming from, as you only ever passed her a few times in the hallway while she was going to Kankri's room, and you were going to Karkat's, for two completely different reasons, obviously.

     "You too... " You replied anyway. Might as well indulge her.


	8. She's Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi's aunt dies and Karkat is the first person she tells. Cuddles insue (briefly).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was bored and I wanted sadstuck and cuddles. Basically, my personal headcanon is that all of the lusii would be like aunts and uncles and stuff. Pyralspite (the name of Terezi's lusus) would be her aunt, and I have this headcanon that she would be in a coma (I always say brain cancer induced coma, and that's usually the cause of her family moving to the United States). So, after having been in this coma for 10 years, the doctor's have finally declared her dead. Also, I love how the notes for this chapter are longer than the summary. XD

     The second you went downstairs that morning you knew something was wrong. Your sister was over, sitting on the couch, sobbing into your mother's arms, who was also crying. Your mother never cried, and your sister should have been in class. The two of them being so distraught made your fight or flight reflex kick in, making you want to run back to your bedroom, to be anywhere but there, but you controlled the urge and walked to them shakily.

     "M-mom...? What's wrong? " You asked shakily, which made her jump. She let go of your sister and crushed you against her chest in a hug, which succeeded in doing nothing but making you even more nervous.

     "Terezi, your... your aunt... " She looked at you with such intensity that you knew what she meant before she had said it, and your fight or flight reflex kicked in again. You knew you weren't in any danger, that your life wasn't threatened, but your brain was producing an improper amount of adrenaline, which probably meant that it was processing this as a life-threatening situation. You decided to keep reminding yourself of this fact to calm you down. That this was just your mother telling you that your aunt was dead, no big deal. "The doctors, they couldn't do anything... they said that there's been no effect after ten years of life support and treatment... and that there was no way for them to contact us until now. Your aunt died last week... "

     You could feel the tears well up in your eyes, the stinging in your chest. You wouldn't accept the soothing touches from your mother in the attempt to calm you down. You squirmed out of her embrace and ran up the stairs, to your bedroom, slamming the door behind you and locking it. You had to tell someone, to talk about it with someone who would understand. Not your mom. Not your sister. They just lost a dear family member. You lost a secondary guardian, and a part of your heart. You lost the person who knew all of your secrets, who you told everything to. The one who told you everything, who always tried to help, even if she didn't quite understand. You weren't sure anyone on the face of the Earth could understand. A message pinged on your laptop, and you recognized Trollian.

     You opened your laptop as the tears started to prick at your eyes and you let them spill. The message was from Karkat, and you realized just how glad you were, because you didn't think there was anyone else you could have talked to in that moment.

 

 **carcinoGeneticist** [ **CG** ] began trolling **gallowsCalibrator** [ **GC** ] at 10:43.

 

 **CG** : TEREZI.

 **CG** : ARE YOU AWAKE?

 **GC** : K4RK4T, PL34S3

 **GC** : C4N YOU COM3 OV3R?

 **GC** : /PL34S3/

 **CG** : WHAT?

 **CG** : WHAT'S WRONG?

 **GC** : PL34S3... JUST, C4N YOU?

 **CG** : YEAH, I CAN.

 **CG** : I'LL BE THERE IN A FEW MINUTES.

 **GC** : TH4NK YOU SO MUCH...

 

 **carcinoGeneticist** [ **CG** ] ceased trolling **gallows** **Calibrator** [ **GC** ] at 10:51.

 

     You felt slightly better, knowing that your boyfriend was coming. You were comfortable with calling him that at that point. Your boyfriend. Although, you knew that you needed to talk to your mom about Karkat coming over. She wouldn't be upset that you had invited him over, though she would be annoyed with you if you didn't tell her. Possibly a bit annoyed with him too. You wiped at your eyes and went downstairs.

     "Mom... " She looked at you, which was the only indication that you had her attention. "I... I invited Karkat over... He'll be over in a couple of minutes... " She nodded and you retreated back upstairs. This was her sad way of telling you that it was alright.

     You hadn't even changed yet. You were still in your sleep clothes. You weren't sure if you cared about anything enough to change your clothes. After a minute, you just threw on the first thing in your closet. You didn't even care, after having put it on, that it was a long black dress, a teal ribbon around the waist. It had been made for you a couple of years previous by your grandmother on your mother's side. She had always loved sewing, though she hadn't been as good at it as Miss Rosa, Karkat's grandmother. She had died a year later, which was most likely the only thing that led you to keep it. It had been too big for you when she first made it for you, but after two years, three inches and five pounds, it finally fit you.

     Not even a minute after you were dressed did you hear the knock on the door, making you sprint down the stairs to answer it before your mom or your sister. You opened the door and practically tackled him in a hug, throwing your arms around him. He didn't question it, instead just hugging you back. After a minute, you let go of him and stood up, opening the door wider invitingly.

     "Please, come in... " You mumbled and he walked past you, waving at your crying mother before walking up the stairs to your room. You joined him a moment later.

     "What the fuck is going on? " He asked and you shook your head, laying silently on your bed and pulling him to lay next to you.

     "She's dead Karkat... " You muttered and he wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you closer and nuzzling you gently.

     "Who? "

     "My aunt... The hospital called us, they said that they couldn't contact us... She's been dead for a week and I didn't even know... " The tears started to spill again and he hugged you tighter. "She was always there for me... She was the one who told me everything, who I told everything to... I..... I always thought that I'd know if she had died... " He nodded and kissed your cheek, making you nuzzle closer to him.

     "I'm so sorry, Terezi... I don't know what your going through, I can say that, but I do know that it hurts... You aren't usually so sad, and I don't know if I can help you... But, fuck if I'm not going to try. " You smiled softly at this, kissing him gently. "I love you. " He whispered to you and you smiled. He hadn't kissed you back or tried to take advantage of you. He just reminded you that he loved you, which is honestly the most important thing. He constantly was reminding you of just why you loved him back, too, which you always thought was so sweet of him.

     "I love you too. "


	9. Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave throws a party. Terezi attends. Hijinks insue.
> 
> Warning: Almost rape. I'd like to make it INCREDIBLY clear that I am not promoting this act, I just though it would build character. I actually have to see a therapist because when I was younger I was molested, so I'd appreciate it if I didn't get any nasty comments about how I'm an awful person for writing this. Thank you ahead of time.

     It had been two weeks since your aunt died. Little by little you were managing to get over it, and to interact with your friends that weren't Karkat. You had turned down most invitations to events and parties. You just did not feel up to it. However, after two weeks of time to get over it, or at least start to get used to the fact that she would never be there again, you had decided that one party couldn't hurt anyone.

     It was one of Dave's parties, which means that you would only know about 10% of the people there, because if you were being perfectly honest with yourself, Dave was, in fact, 150% cooler than you. He knew everyone at school, and pretty much all of the girls at school were in love with him. The fact that he had invited you to his party was a mystery in and of itself. However, you just chose to assume that his girlfriend Jade forced him to. Sure, you and Dave were friends, but things were always awkward between the two of you. You honestly had no idea why. Jade was pretty much the opposite of Dave. Where he was the coolest guy at your school, friends with everyone, all of the girls at school drooling over him because "he's just so cool! " and friends with a select few people, Jade was nothing like that. She was a very friendly girl, president of the science club and nice to everyone. Very few people in general liked her, let alone guys. Sure, there was occasional science geek who would flirt with her in the hallways, but they usually left her alone when they found out who her boyfriend was. In fact, she probably wasn't flirted with a lot _because_ of who her boyfriend was.

     It was at 6:00 PM that Saturday, to be held at Jade's grandfather's mansion. Not quite surprising considering that Jade was too nice for her own good and Dave lived in a tiny apartment. He wasn't taking advantage of her. You were almost certain, in fact, that he tried to decline but that she insisted, because she was, once again, too nice for her own good. The only thing that made you reluctant to go originally was that you couldn't take Karkat with you, as one of Dave's 'rules' of you going. As if you were going to bring Karkat anywhere near Dave, anyway! You'd seen how much those two hate each other, and you were not going to tamper with that.

     But, in the end, you agreed to go. After all, it would take your mind off of your aunt! And anything that would do that was considered magical in your book.i

 

* * *

 

 

     Okay, so maybe the party was a bad idea.

     The people there were all drunk, horny or both, and you swore that your ass had been grabbed at least three times. But you told yourself that it was alright, because you kept your distance from anyone you didn't know. Mostly stuck to hanging out with John (who was allowed to bring Vriska, for some reason). After all, he was seemingly the only person at the entire party who wasn't drunk off their ass and sucking someone's face in the corners, closets, even the middle of the halls. You wished you had Karkat with you, but a certain SOMEBODY said that you couldn't bring him.

     "Hey, Terezi, I'm gonna go get a drink. Can you go hang out with Dave and Jade or Rose or something for a little while? " John asked and gave you a dorky smile. You just smiled shyly and nodded silently, walking off to find at least one of the people he mentioned.

     You walked past a heavily making out Dave and Jade, finding it best not to disturb what they were doing. A minute later she was taking his hand and guiding him up the stairs (toward where you knew her room was), so you thought that you made a pretty safe call. Though it was nearly impossible to smell anything over all of the people and alcohol, you did eventually find Rose and her unmistakable scent of lavenders. There was a small red cup in her hand, making you assume that she was at least partially drunk.

     "Oh, hey Tezzy. " She giggled, waving at you. The stench of vodka was strong on her breath, and the fact that she called you Tezzy meant that she was not a little drunk. Oh no, she was full out wasted. You hoped Kanaya came back from where ever she was soon, or else it would be a long night.

    "Oh, hello! Where's Kanaya? " You asked. You figured that she was just drunk enough that it wouldn't seem too rude that you didn't start out the conversation with any of the common pleasantries, such as "How are you? " or even "Whats up? ". Clearly she did not, though, because she just laughed and smiled, taking a sip of her alcohol before starting to answer your question.

     "She want to go help ot one uff our friens. She said that they were a fashion disazder. " She slurred, only barely coherent enough that you could understand her. Had this been any other couple beside Kanaya and Rose, you would have thought that the person who left would have been cheating on the other, however, you knew Kanaya well enough by then to know that she actually would wander off and away from Rose at a party only to help a friend with what she would consider a fashion emergency, being that she was the biggest diva you had ever met. Except for maybe Porrim, her sister.

     "Oh, I see. Well, I'm stuck with you until John gets back. " You smiled at her and she laughed again. You weren't sure she could understand a word you were saying.

     "Well, thas nice. I men, we don relly spend a lotta time together, and I'd like to get to know ya a liddle better if you're gonna be dating Karkat, wish I know tha yo are. The way you two act around eashother makes it od... ov... obvou... makes it clear. " She slurred so often that it almost saddened you, but you just smiled and nodded along. Since her answer really gave you no clearance on just how long Kanaya would be gone, you were half considering just leaving her alone there and joining Dave and Jade upstairs.

     "I suppose so. Anything about me you'd like to know in particular or do you just want to talk? " She was in no state to actually be trying to learn about you from the kinds of things that you said, so you were hoping that she would pick the former.

     "Well, firsly, I wanna know how the two of ya met. " She giggled and you smiled. It wasn't the most glorified story, of course, but you did like the story of Karkat's and your meeting.

     "Karkat and I met when I was six years old. I was so shy and awkward and barely spoke any English. We had the same first grade teacher, actually... See, when I first moved to America from Russia, I lived in New York City, which is also where Karkat happened to live. Sure, it wasn't the safest place for a blind six-year-old to live, but it was home, and it was where I could see my aunt. Theoretically speaking, of course. My aunt was in a brain cancer induced coma, and she was the whole reason that we moved to the United States in the first place... she actually passed away just a few weeks ago... " You frowned, and she put a hand on your shoulder, but you shook your head. "Anyway, we met at school. He was so grumpy and adorable... And have you seen any pictures? Ugh! So cute, I could just die! He was sweet and funny, and it was so obvious that he had a HUGE crush on me. Of course, I had a crush on him, too, but mine wasn't as obvious. We actually only lived a little South of where you did with your mom for a long time... Up until a few years ago, right? " She nodded. She had only moved here 3 years ago, when she was 13. "Anyway, my dad then joined the US Navy, saying that he had to protect any country we lived in, not just the one we were from... He died after a little while. That was the only reason we moved. So, Karkat gave me his Trollian and we stayed in contact. "

     "That's a relly toushing story... 'nd 'm relly sorry 'bout your aunt. She sounds like a relly nice perzon. "

     "She was the best... unlike my mom, she was always really nice to me, even when I was annoying and bratty... She always did what I wanted to do, or what my sister wanted to do, and there was this sort of unspoken rule that in her house, there was to be no arguing, yelling or fighting between/from anyone there. I visited her every summer when I was little, which is why some people wondered why I didn't speak English. But, she only spoke Russian around me, something about 'talking in English only if she was asked to'. Basically, I spoke and speak Russian fluently, so she saw no need to speak a different language... " You felt vulnerable exposing these memories, but Rose was kind.

     "Thas really cool... all I got wus an alcoholc mom and a dad who I never met. I mean, my mom always cared, bud she never spent time with me unliss she ad... as... abz... unless she had to. " Rose frowned and it was your turn to rub her arm. But you could smell the scent of green tea and mint that could only be that of a Maryam. Sure enough, Rose brightened up. "Kanya! I wass jusd talkin' to Tezzy while you were halping tht person with ther outfit! How was it? " Kanaya gave you a sympathetic look and you smiled.

     "Oh, it was alright, dear. Of course, they really were a walking disaster, quite tragic. But, I do always bring a spare outfit to parties in case someone vomits on me or something just as horrifying. Now they look just wonderful! Er... what were the two of you talking about, if you don't mind my intrusion... " Kanaya, always so elegant and polite. Even when snooping.

     "We were jus talking about Karkit nd how they met, nd bout Terezi nd her family and stuff! " Rose answered delightedly. You just nodded.

     "Uh, hey, I'm going to go to the restroom... I'll be back in a minute, alright? " You said and the two of them nodded dismissively at you.

     As you walked through the halls for a good five minutes, you passed at least 5 couples. Kissing, groping... other things... You had no idea how anybody could do something like that at somebody else's house. Karkat and you hadn't even done that at either of your own houses, pretty much everything but. So, needless to say, you were relieved when you did finally find the bathroom. It was at the end of the third hallway you had wandered through.

     The light turned on, as if it mattered, and you felt around for the toilet. When you found it, you pulled down your pants and underwear and sat. After a minute (we won't go into the details) you stood to wash your hands.

     The details on the soap were lovely, and they had a beautiful smell. Pomegranate, apparently. You turned on the water and began to scrub the germs on your hands away with the soap under the water. All you heard was rustling as you were grabbed from behind, a hand flying to cover your mouth.

     Your first instinct was to kick, but you knew it wouldn't be very affective, since you didn't have very good aim and they were behind you. So, you stepped on their foot as hard as you could, which did earn you a quiet yelp of pain from them, but they did not budge in the letting go of you area. In fact, their grip with one arm around your waist tightened, and the hand covering your mouth was now pressing to cover it more efficiently.

     "Listen. If you just do what I tell you to, this will all be over quickly, and you can get out of here, easy-peasy. So shut up and take off the shirt. " You didn't recognize the voice. You were wearing a plain black top, maybe 5 dollars. However, it's worth to you suddenly felt as if it was designer and one of a kind, made for you by Kanaya, and like you should never take it off for anything in the world. Next thing you knew, you were being shoved on the ground, and you quivered, whimpering quietly. You wanted to scream, and you could feel a scream bubbling in your throat, but you _could not scream_. It was just stuck in your throat and burning your lungs.

     Seering pain, that was the next thing you felt. He had delivered a hard, aggressive kick to your ribs. You knew it would leave a bruise. That it would be sensitive and painful for weeks, succeeding in doing nothing but reminding you of this moment. The moment when you were weak. _The moment when you were raped._

     "I said take off the shirt! " He kicked you a few more times, all in the exact same spot as the first. You wished you knew this voice and this smell. The low, rough voice of the man who was doing this to you. Or the smell of alcohol, ink and sweat. You wished you had any indication as to who this man was or why he was doing this to you. You wondered if you were the only young woman at this party who he had done this to, or if he'd been in here all evening. Then he ripped off your shirt, and tears started to spill.

     "There, you see, you useless piece of shit?! That wasn't so hard, was it?! It's the disobedient trash like you that deserve this kind of shit! Bitches like you are the reason that I do this shit. You all think that your so fucking special, that you don't need to listen to anybody, because you got it all figured out, DON'T YOU?! " You whimpered and he kicked you, this time in the face. "SHUT THE FUCK UP! Don't you dare make another fucking sound! Do you know just how fucking rude that was?! I am trying to speak to you and all you can do is lay down there uselessly and bitch and whine and whimper! 'I don't deserve this' 'I don't want this' 'Why are you doing this' 'Stop', that's all you fucking whores can bring yourselves to fucking say! " He was violent, irrational, and apparently not as drunk as he smelled.

     "Please... stop... " You mumbled incoherently, sobbing quietly into your own hands. He kicked you again, before grabbing you by the throat and lifting you by it, strangling you. He kissed you roughly, biting your lower lip until it bled and forcing his tongue into your mouth before shoving you into the wall of what you could only assume was the shower. And still, you couldn't bring yourself to scream.

     "Who are you to ask me to stop?! You know you like this, you little slut! Bitch! Take of the bra. NOW! " Rather than fight him this time, you took it off obediently. He threw it on the floor and grabbed your breasts, pinching them and causing you pain. You sobbed and he slapped you. "SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH! "

     "Please just let me go... I swear I won't tell anyone what happened... Please... just let me g-go... " You begged shakily and he slapped you again. This time you did scream. You knew that it was very unlikely that anyone could hear you, because all of the doors and walls were nearly sound-proof, and there was a party going on out there, but it made you feel better. All you did was scream and scream as he punched, slapped and kicked you in the attempt to make you stop. He pinned you to the wall by your throat with one arm, and repeatedly punched you in the stomach with the other. Then, he forced your jeans down, not bothering to undo them first.

     "Now, here's what's gonna happen. " He said. "You're gonna do what I say, and then you're gonna leave, and you ain't gonna tell anybody what happened here. "

     Finally a small amount of hope flickered inside of you as you heard the door knob turn, and that hope burst through you when you heard the easily recognizable voices of John and Vriska, and the unmistakable smell of cotton candy and blue raspberry Kool-Aid filled your nostrils. You knew if you could just get one small scream or cry for help in before he covered your mouth, you would be free. Free of the monstrosity that was this rapist, and free of this bathroom. You swallowed the bile that had built in your throat and prepared to scream loudly, and make it a good one. To cry and beg for their help and hope that John Egderp would be able to get this guy away from you, or at least find someone who could.

     "GUYS, IT'S ME, HEL- !!! " You screamed before the guy punched you full force in the jaw and covered your mouth, smiling at your friends. But it was too late. You knew that they had heard you, and that they had seen what had just happened, or at least a few seconds of it.

     "Heh heh, sorry about that, she's a little tipsy... Just go find another bathroom, we were here first... " The tears were still flowing from your eyes, uncontrollable.

     "You're not her boyfriend... I don't even know who the hell you are! Back away from my friend, dude, or I swear, I'll fight you! " John held up two fists and actually smelled about ready for a fight, maybe even a little intimidating. Meanwhile, Vriska was calling out into the hallway and up the stairs to get back-up.

     After a minute, Dave and Jade arrived and the guy finally let go of you, making a mad dash for it. He received quite a few punches from your friends and a few onlookers, but otherwise got away. This left you alone, topless and exposed, shaking and shivering in the shower. Finally, Vriska approached you and helped you up, taking you away from all of the staring people and up the stairs. Jade was soon to follow, asking if you were okay three times and, once all of you were up the stairs, offering to give you one of her shirts, since yours was torn up and the two of you were around the same size.

     Once you were dressed, Dave drove you home, the car ride silent, except for the occasional sob and whimper, as you just couldn't stop crying.


	10. Worrying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat hasn't heard from Terezi in weeks and he's worried.
> 
> From Karkat's POV.

     She hadn't talked to you in weeks. She wouldn't reply to your messages on Trollian, she didn't answer the door, she hadn't even _been_ at school. You were worried that she was mad at you, or that something serious happened. And the worst part is, the last time she talked to you was the day she went to Dave's party, which made you think that something happened there. What if she cheated on you? What if she started dating _Dave_? But you knew that couldn't have happened because she loved you and you loved her back. Plus, Dave and Jade were pretty much inseparable. Maybe you were too worried. Maybe you were freaking her out and pushing her away without meaning to. But that wouldn't make sense. She seemed happy before, and then she just stopped contacting you out of the blue.

     "I'm worried about her, man. I don't know what to do. She won't answer my calls, she won't text me back, she won't reply to my messages on Trollian, she hasn't been here-- " You started before Gamzee interrupted you.

     "Karkat, I'm sure it's fine, brother. She just needs some motherfuckin' space after the party, chill out. Motherfuckin' miracles'll happen and she'll call you. You just gotta motherfuckin' wait it out, bro. " He was no help, as always. You don't know why you even bothered talking to him, aside from the fact that it usually made you feel at least a little bit better, and he didn't get all upset when you yelled at him.

     "Yeah, I guess you're right, but still... " You trailed off, mumbling incoherently to yourself. He's right, for once. You're being ridiculous and you need to stop worrying. Maybe she's just sick and she needs to get better. Yeah, you're sure that's it. She's just been in bed. But then, why won't she text you back? You thought about going to check on her again after school, but you weren't sure. You pondered various situations for the next few minutes while Gamzee rambled on about miracles. After a couple of minutes, you finally snapped out of it and grabbed your books.

     The bell still made you jump when it rung not 10 seconds later.

 

* * *

 

 

     Though you only knocked three times, it felt like one hundred, ear splitting times, enough to make your hands bleed, echoing through your head. Where you doubted that she would answer, you had to try. Maybe her mom would answer, or her sister would be over. Hell, maybe she'd even have Kanaya or Rose over to talk to, they were both at that stupid fucking party. You wished that Dave would have let you go with her, if for no reason other than so you'd know what happened.

     You were just ready to turn and leave, to just go home. You had even turned your back to her doorway. Then, there was a quiet creak, a moment of hesitation, and arms wrapped tightly around your back. Quiet sniffles turned to sobbing quietly into your back and you quickly turned, hugging her back.

 

* * *

 

 

     "I'm sorry. " It's the first thing she said to you as you were walking in. You were about to ask for what, but she answered your question before you had to. "For everything... For going to Dave's party even though you couldn't, and for not going to school, and for ignoring you-- everyone-- for weeks... " She frowned and you hugged her again, like you did outside. Your arms fit around her waist so naturally that you almost question your sanity for never hugging her all those years ago in New York, because fuck knows, you could have used it.

     "Don't be... " You kissed her forehead and tears started to spill from her eyes. "You don't need to apologize for everything, okay? You didn't do anything wrong... "

     She smiled and you wiped at her tears, letting her go. She led you to the couch, sitting down and pulling you next to her. You sat gladly, feeling like you were lifting a massive boulder off of your shoulders. After a moment of silence, you couldn't take the curiosity.

     "What happened at Dave's party? What made you stop talking to me? Did I do something? Did something happened? Were you hurt? Are you okay? " So many questions were going through your mind, but you didn't want to seem pushy.

     "It's a long story... " She frowned.

     "I have time. I have lots of time. I have _all_ of the time. " You didn't care that you were technically copying that phrase from Vriska, you were trying to make her feel better, and being funny was one method of doing that, thus welcomed.

     "I don't want to talk about it... It just wasn't a pleasant experience... " She frowned and you sighed. You'd just have to except that answer for now. For now. You weren't going to stay in the dark forever if you could help it.

     "Okay... So you're okay? "

     "I'm okay... "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not very good chapter, but it's been too long since I've updated.


	11. Christmas at the Vantas'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi spends Christmas with Karkat's family. Pretty much, I needed to have happy and cheesy stuff happening so that 1. You guys didn't just abandon ship because it was wrecked by sadness, and 2. /I/ don't abandon ship because I feel unsafe writing my own fic.

     You sighed as you walked across the street to his house, white snow crunching beneath your feet. It snowed for the first time all winter last night, which was apparently normal in California. At least, according to Kanaya and Karkat. You loved the idea of a white Christmas, even though you hadn't seriously celebrated the holiday since your dad died. He was always so happy and cheerful that he brought the holiday to life, and after that, none of you had any motivation to continue celebrating the day lest you suffer from some form of PTSD just thinking about his death.

     You sighed again as you reached his front steps, a slight mist that you would never be able to see in your life forming in front of you. You only knew it was there because, until you moved here, you had always lived in cold, snowy places. First Russia, then New York, then Minnesota. But, you now had to face the fact that your entire life had pretty much been changed forever in every way when you moved here.

     You knocked on the door briskly and quietly, but still loud enough to be heard over the friendly sounding chatter. As opposed to your boyfriend, you were instead greeted by Karkat's father, whom you'd met all of once, until now. You could practically feel the warmth radiating from his smile, and hear the kindness in his voice. Of course, you know that this is all part of the job, as Karkat's dad is a professional preacher. Until you met him, you didn't even know that was a real occupation. You quickly learned not only that you were wrong, but also where Kankri got it from.

     "Ah, young Miss Pyrope, how lovely it is to see you again. You must be here for Karkat. Admittedly, I was a bit unnerved by your coming here for Christmas at first, but when Karkat explained your family's traumatic reasoning behind not celebrating the holiday at home, and we had a long discussion about fairness as Kanaya brings her girlfriend every year, I decided that it was the right decision to allow you to come over and celebrate. " You nodded and smiled cooly.

     "Well, thank you for allowing me to come over, Mr. Vantas. I know how frustrating it must be for you to have your youngest son be dating so young, and to want his girlfriend to constantly intrude on celebrations that are usually just for family. I do hope that there is any way later on that I can return the favor. " Okay, so you're kissing up. You couldn't see any problem with trying to do what Karkat wouldn't to get on his father's good side when you knew that you were by default some evil demon here to take his son away from him, as Karkat was to your mom. You _especially_ felt the need to after as much dirt as Kankri had on the two of you, as just how easily he would spill aforementioned dirt unsettled you, and you would have liked to be at least a little liked before that happened.

     Rather than respond, he just nodded and moved for you to come in. When you walked in, Kankri took your coat and you took off your shoes, thanking the both of them graciously.

     You knew that it wasn't going to happen here, but you were still a bit nervous to be here after the last party you went to. You wouldn't say you were necessarily popular, but you did seem to go to quite a few parties recently. You were sure it was just a coincidence, though. You sniffed around for the familiar scent of cherries and gunmetal, but did not find it. This made you frown, before his father approached from behind to explain.

     "Karkat is upstairs in his room. No offense to you, as you seem like a perfectly lovely girl who would not purposefully do anything wrong, but I would much prefer the two of you not to be alone together, and I will go upstairs to get him. Or, if you'd prefer, I can send Kankri and we can continue our short chat from earlier. Since you are dating my son, I'd love to get to know you a little better. But, as I said a moment ago, you seem like a perfectly lovely girl, so I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. " His explanation could have been about half the length it was, but you understood what it meant: Kankri was getting Karkat, you were talking to Mr. Vantas.

     You sighed quietly under your breath before sitting on the couch, signaling him to sit next to you. He quickly complied. "What is it that you'd like to know, Mr. Vantas? Grades? How your son and I met? What? "

     "I want to know those things, but not yet. What is your backstory like? "

     "Oh. Well, I was born in Russia to Redglare and Vitali Pyrope. My grandmother on my mother's side had an odd taste in names, as did my mother. I had this friend named Vriska Serket, who I'm sure you've seen around. We were best friends, still are. We did everything together. We played games, we went hunting with my dad, sometimes we went to my mom's cases because we thought she was really cool. See, when Vriska was little, her parents left her, so she was in a lot of foster homes, along with her older sister, Aranea.  Her sister was my sister's age, but they weren't really friends. Different interests, nothing in common. So, just before I turned six, we were playing when we heard that there was going to be a solar eclipse. She dared me to stare right at it the whole time. Neither of us knew that it could be harmful, which it was. That's why I'm blind. A few months later, Vriska moved to yet another new foster home. Only, this one was in America. A little over a month later, I turned six, and a couple of weeks after that, we moved to America, too. My Aunt Pyralspite went into brain cancer induced coma. We moved to this big city in New York, which is where I met Karkat. Because of my birthday, I should have been a year behind him in school, but, I had skipped a grade because of my record. My mom called me her little genius, it was so embarrassing. A couple of months later, my dad joined the US Navy, saying that he had to serve the country we lived in. Less than a year later, we heard that he had died. " You only stopped for a second, a brief moment of hesitation as tears started to spill and stream down your cheeks. "I moved away for 'a fresh start', as my mom called it. We lived in Minnesota. We lived there in the forests up in the North toward Canada, from the time I was seven and a half up until earlier this year. I didn't want to move away from my home, but I was excited to finally see so many of my old friends in person again. I'm sure you understand... " You felt bad for talking so long, but he did ask. You sniffled quietly and quickly swiped at your eyes.

     "I see... I'm very sorry, that sounds very tragic. I'm glad you and your best friend were able to make up in the end. I'm also very glad that everything turned out mostly happily, in the end. But, I noticed that you said something about an Aunt Pyralspite in a coma...? "

     "Yes, my aunt went into a brain cancer induced coma when I was six and a half. She died a couple months ago... "

     "Oh, I'm very sorry, once again. It appears Karkat has finally decided to come downstairs. I'll let you go to him now. Merry Christmas, and... can we continue this conversation some other time? " You nodded and smiled, standing. He stood as well and, rather than shaking his hand, you actually just pulled him into a hug. It was loose and awkward, but it was a start to attempting to get close to your possible future father-in-law. You let go and ventured toward your boyfriend.

     "Oh, uh, hey Terezi. I didn't expect you to be here so early. I mean, you're even here before Kanaya and Rose... "  He sounded genuinely surprised. And a bit sleepy. Conclusion: He had only just woken up. The smell of his bed head was confirmation of your conclusion. "Give me a minute, I'll go back upst- " You interrupt his speech by placing a quick but soft kiss to his lips. His hands went to your waist and he kissed you back. You smiled against his lips before pulling away and resting your forehead against his. "...airs and get ready... " The way he said it made you think that it had taken him a minute to remember just what he was going to say at first.

     "It's fine. "

     "I really should go upstairs and get dressed... we're having people over, my dad'll kill me... "

     You whine and let him head back upstairs after a minute, returning to his dad. You knew it was pointless to even wear make-up, but at least it wasn't totally ruined. Or even remotely ruined, apparently. In the spirit of the holiday, you had asked your sister to help you with some make-up. She rarely ever wore the stuff, but hot-damn she was an expert. Some white and green eyeshadow and red lipstick, the festive colors. Nothing too obvious though, just some light color to your face. Kanaya would be proud. You also wore a dress Kanaya made for you a couple months back. It was too long at the time, but you'd grow a few inches since then, and now it was just past your ankles. It was an almost plain white dress, but the bottom subtly faded into red, with slight touches of lace here and there. It was originally made for a date with Karkat, but it was now for a date with Karkat's family. When Karkat came back downstairs, he was wearing a nice, slightly old, grey suit and a deep red neck tie. His father sent a curt nod his direction before you left his father once again to stand next to Karkat, hooking your arms together and resting your head on his shoulder.

     "You look really nice. " He whispered to you quietly, clearly much more awake and alert.

     "Thank you. You smell really nice too. " You smiled softly, about to place a kiss on his cheek before a knock sounded on the door and Kanaya walked in, followed immediately by a (shockingly sober) Rose, and then Porrim and Miss Rosa. You smiled and returned to the two of your original positions, nodding at all of them as they passed. "Will you excuse me for a moment, love? I think I'll go to Kanaya and Rose for a moment. " He nodded at you before releasing your arm. You then went to talk to the aforementioned couple.

     "Terezi! You're here. " Rose greeted you warmly, making you even more suspicious.

     "Rose! You're sober. " Her and Kanaya laugh coldly before Rose attempted to dignify your statement with a response.

     "Yes, unfortunately. Miss Rosa's rules: if I want to come, I'll come sober. They don't keep alcohol in the Vantas, so I'm pretty much screwed until I leave in an hour and a half to catch my plane. "

     "Plane? "

     "Ah, I'm glad you asked. I'm going to see my mother in New York. She may be horrid, but I would feel bad leaving her alone on Christmas. " Right, you forgot that she grew up there. You simply hoped that she could get vodka. Or even eggnog would suffice, as you'd seen Rose sober and it was usually incredibly boring for all parties involved. "So, I'll be there for the rest of the break, and you can call me on Skype if I'm needed. "  


     "How are you going to afford the flight out to New York? " You should have felt bad, but there was nothing wrong with a little curiosity, right?

     "Rose's mother is going to pay for the trips, both there and back. Of course, she may miss the first day back from break, but that is only a minor possibility if her mother decides to be clingy like she was last year. Or the year before. " Kanaya responded before Rose could.

     "Oh Kanaya, dear, would you please let that go? I understand it was aggravating, but she misses me. She only sees me one week a year when I'm her /daughter/. " A great sympathy suddenly panged in your chest for Rose's mother. You would know what it's like to only see your mother for short periods, as she's always working, sometimes even flying out back to Russia for a case. You only get to go every summer.

     "I do not care what the circumstances are, I care that she always tries to take you away from me, every year, and you always insist it will be different. If she really wishes for you to stay longer, she could at least pay for me to go along as well! We both know very well that she has the money for it! "

     "Kanaya, darling, you know that my mother just wants to see me. " Rose sighed. You felt that you should go before becoming witness to an argument that you would rather not have to listen to _on Christmas_. Not even just Christmas, but your first Christmas with Karkat.

     "Rose, love, why can you not just admit that your mother doesn't like me rather than lie ab- " Was the last thing you heard before you left the room.

     You sighed and smelled around for Karkat, quickly picking up on the familiar scent. It led you to the corner of the living room, away from pretty much every other person there. You smiled softly and cuddled up to his warmth as he wrapped one arm around you.

     "Merry Christmas. "

     He kissed you softly for a good minute before pulling away. Then you smelled it. Mistletoe. "Merry Christmas, Terezi. "


	12. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Terezi's grandparents arrive to visit from Russia for a week.

     Your sister was visiting, but that was no where near as large of a surprise as the news that so were your grandparents on your father's side. You had only met them a couple of times when you were little, and you hadn't had any contact since your father had died. There had been three separate occasions when you had been told they had died, and not once was it true. Your grandparents were in their late-70's and you didn't think they should have to go through air travel from one busy country to California, but apparently that was just your opinion.  
  
     "Your grandparents' plane landed 5 minutes ago, so it shouldn't be too long before they're here, alright? " You knew exactly how long the drive from the airport to your house was, which meant that in precisely 7 minutes you would have to give up all of your electronics, and the only circumstance under which you would be allowed to communicate with your boyfriend would be introducing him to your grandparents. And quite frankly, you think they'd both drop dead at his language alone.  
  
     3 minutes later, you were telling Karkat goodbye and that you loved him and that you'd hopefully see him the next week when all of this was over. After that, you and your sister handed your phones over to your mother and she locked them, along with both of your laptops, in her closet. It was as if she didn't even know what torment you were going through! Not being able to go near electronics for a whole week just because your grandparents decided to visit. Why were you being punished for something they decided to do? But it didn't matter. You knew that they were the family you wanted to get close to, anyway. Your grandparents were remarkably wealthy, to the point that at one point, _$413,000_ vanished from their bank account and they _hadn't even noticed_. It wasn't like you weren't well-off or anything, but if $413,000 went missing from your mother's bank account, there would at least be a dent in your amount of money for quite a while. Your grandfather, Limonnyy Morda Pyrope, owned three museums around the world (one in the US, one in Russia, and one in Northeastern Australia) and had been an archaeologist for 20 years, both before your dad was born and while he was growing up. He retired about 14 years before the current moment, a couple of months before your second birthday. Your friend Aradia practically idolized him, and loved to drag her boyfriend Sollux to his museum in Southwest Nevada. As for your grandmother, Berri Dykhaniye Pyrope, she had seven different popular jewelry lines, commonly sold in the UK, US, and Australia. She was close to Miss Rosa, as they had sold quite a few sets of clothing and jewelry together. You loved them as family, which is what they were, but you didn't feel like kissing up to them for the next five to ten years just so that your mom could get some money once they died.

     A knock on the front door resounded through the house, pulling you from your thoughts. They were here. You quickly pulled the door open, smiling. You were crushed in a hug from your grandfather before loosely hugging your grandmother. She was about a foot shorter than she was the last time you saw her, which had been when you'd _literally been able to see, it had been that long_. Or maybe it was that you had grown about a foot and a half.

     "Terezi, my nemnogo velikiy khudozhnik! My, you've grown so tall! And where is my smel'chak? " Your grandmother looked around for Latula, her 'daredevil'. Your own nickname was Russian for 'little great artist'. "Ah, Redglare. I see you are in good health. " She said it bitterly to your mother. Your parents had gotten married at the ages of 20 and 21, and your grandmother despised your mother for 'ruining her baby'. "How have you been raising my granddaughters since the last time the three of you visited us,  _eight_ _and a half years ago_. " You could feel the tension rising in the room and it startled you.

     "Babushka, ded, please, allow me to take your bags to your room and show you around the house. " Slowly, the electricity levels began to fall again and your grandmother nodded. They were modestly-weighing bags, filled only with clothing and books, as you knew. Your grandparents did not believe in technology, calling it the 'poison of the modern age'. It had taken your mother three years to convince them to get a land-line phone so that they would be able to call the three of you.

     "How do you all stay in this house, velikiy khudozhnik? It's so tiny and insufficient. Your ded and I would never have made your father live in a house this small! " You knew that she was used to living in a larger house, but that fact that she was calling your four bedroom, three bathroom house 'tiny' was insane! Karkat's house was two bedrooms, one bathroom and had to support a family of three, sometimes even six when the Maryams came to visit. Often, his father slept on the couch, but when Karkat stayed over at your house (which was incredibly rare), he got to sleep in Karkat's bed. When they got tax return the next month, Karkat would have to share a bedroom with his brother, Kankri, and his father would take over his brother's room.

     "Well, babushka, Latula's off at law school, so, it's mom, me, and two extra bedrooms. " You tried to force yourself to sound happy, which you thought you pulled off, but you didn't manage to suppress the quiet sigh that escaped after the sentence had left your mouth.

     "What?! Latula has to stay in some little dorm room at some college away from her mother and sister while you two are comfortable here, at home? And I assume that it was your mother's idea to just send her away? Honestly, what kind of mother would just abandon her child like that?! " As anyone could probably interpret, the rest of the tour of the house did not go very well.


	13. Introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some SERIOUS contemplation, Terezi introduces Karkat to her grandparents.

     You spent seven days considering the pros and cons of introducing Karkat to your grandparents. Pros: Your grandparents would know your boyfriend. Cons:  _Your grandparents would know your boyfriend._ Ultimately, you decided it would just be best for them to meet him and get it over with than live your life in fear of them actually finding out about him. Hopefully his mouth wouldn't kill them.

     "So, Latula, I wanted to introduce babushka and ded to Karkat, but I'm not sure if it would be the best idea. Because... well... you know... " You sighed quietly and looked away. You weren't necessarily proud that you were stooping as low as to seek relationship advice from your sister, but who else were you supposed to talk to?

     "I think that you should do whatever'll make you happy, sis. I'm sure they'll love you all the same! And so what if babushka and ded don't like him? You'll still love him, I'm sure! You can't just let them govern your life, Tez. Sometimes, you just gotta be free from their vice grip. Ya know? " For once, your sister was actually speaking true words of wisdom. It was almost frightening.

     "Yeah, I'll make sure to do that, then... thanks Tula... " Well, it was certainly decided. She was going to introduce Karkat to her grandparents, no matter how much she was sure she would regret it later on.

     You quickly and expertly maneuvered out of your bedroom window, before quickly running across the street to Karkat's house. You knocked on the door precisely three times. Unsurprisingly, his brother answered the door, as only Kankri would be awake at 8:41 AM during Winter break.

     "Hello, might I ask what-- " He started, but you quickly interrupted him.

     "I need to talk to Karkat and I don't care if he's sleeping or awake, because if I have to, I will come inside and wake him up myself.

     "Might I ask you of your reasoning behind the blatant urgency? "

     "I want to introduce him to my grandparents. They came all the way out here from Russia to see my sister and me, and I don't feel like keeping our relationship a secret from them because that is technically a form of lying, which would be bad. I mean, I don't want him to meet them right this second, but I'd really appreciate it if maybe he could come to dinner or something this evening. " You said quickly, though with how quickly and how long you had seen him rant, you were sure that he could understand exactly what you were saying, or at least the general idea. He nodded at you quickly and went to retrieve his younger brother. A moment later, a very grumpy looking Karkat came to the door. He had an obvious bed head and bags under his eyes.

     "What the fuck do you-- " He perked up slightly upon seeing you, hugging you tightly and briefly. "Oh, Terezi... I thought you wouldn't be able to talk to me for the next couple few days...? " He looked perplexed. And adorable, as always.

     You hugged him back just as tightly and just as briefly. "I'm not really here to talk a lot, I just wanted to ask if you would come to dinner tonight and meet my grandparents. As you know, they flew out here all the way from Russia just to see Latula and me and I don't want my family to be left in the dark about my relationship. " You sighed. "So, please come... and, dress nicely... they're a bit pretentious. " Without another word, you quickly ran off to your own home.

 


	14. Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat comes to dinner.

    After having a lengthy discussion with your grandparents and your mother about Karkat coming over for dinner, you had agreed that he could come over for dinner at 7:30. Knowing your boyfriend, you would have to tell him that it was at 7:00 to get him to actually show up on time. In the entire time that you had known him, he had never even once showed up to anything early, and had only showed up to anything on time twice. He was sure to be about half an hour to an hour late unless you lied to him about the time. You were sure he knew how important this was to you, but he didn't particularly care about your grandparents, given that the way they had been described to him had made them sound like total assholes.  
  
   "Dinner's at 7:00. Remember, show up on time, and please be dressed nicely. I really want them to like you. My mom doesn't care one way or the other, but my grandparents are so uptight and picky. Also, be on your-- oh, I've gotta go... " You quickly hung up, having been calling from your household land-line. It was ridiculous that you had been reduced to this.  
  
   "Ah, velikiy khudozhnik, you know that you shouldn't be on that telephone! Whoever you were talking to was surely talking my shy, quiet little girl's ear off. And, even if they weren't, those things will destroy your brain. " Your grandmother chimed as if she was incredibly amused by your youth and your ability to use the phone with ease. You weren't 4, you were 16. It wasn't uncommon.  
  
   "Sorry, babushka, I was just calling Karkat to remind him what time dinner is. I don't want him to show up early. " She laughed quietly and smiled. "You know how boys are, I'm sure. "  
  
   "Heh, yes... When your ded and I were teenagers he got so worried about meeting my family that he showed up hours early! Now, we have a few hours before your little boyfriend gets here, and I haven't bought you anything yet! Go get dressed properly for public and we will walk to the dress store! And get your sister, too. " By dress store, of course, you knew that she meant the Maryams' shop. They made the most beautiful custom dresses in such a short amount of time.  
  
   "Oh, babushka, it's fine, r-- "  
  
   "Nyet! I refuse to hear a peep out of you, young lady, now go get dressed and get Latula! " You just nodded and sighed quietly, turning and going upstairs.  
  
   "Hey, sis! Whatcha doin'? "  
  
   "Changing. Babushka wants to take us dress shopping. She says that we have to go. Just hurry up and get dressed 'properly for public'. " You put on a nice dress, down to your knees and flattery, with a nice floral design, and a headscarf.  
  
   "Oh, vnuchka, you look lovely! See, you should be wearing clothing like this all of the time rather than those dreaded blue jeans and black t-shirts. Especially those ridiculous shirts with the devil-worship signs on them... " At this point, you had learned not to correct her about your band t-shirts. What you called music, she called evil. What you called cool, she called demonic. It had taken you two hours to calm her down when she noticed that you had dyed your hair, explaining that it had been that way for years and that, no, it was not permanent, and that, yes, it did still grow.  
  
   "Thank you, babushka, I'm glad that I've managed to please you. " She didn't appear to register that your voice was _dripping_ with sarcasm, not that you were complaining. Your sister certainly noticed, though, snickering to herself quietly in the corner.  
  
    The three of you left a minute after that, having gone awkwardly quiet. Seeing as you knew that the chances of your grandmother liking Karkat were seriously slim, you would do anything you could to be on her good side before the meeting. Where you were almost certain that your grandparents would dislike Karkat (namely your grandmother, as ded didn't really care), you could only hope that Karkat would like them. There was really a 50/50 chance, if you were being honest with yourself. They were nice people, but they were snobbish and seemed to think that they had your future all planned out and you had no say in the matter. Karkat wouldn't stand for that, if you knew him.  
  
    Later, at the store, your grandmother was much more interested in picking dresses out for you than you and Latula were combined. But that was alright, let the old woman have her fun. Even if her fun was stuffing you in dresses that "suit your figure perfectly" as she put it.  
  
    "Oh, Terezi, isn't this such a beautiful color? " Sometimes you questioned your grandmother's choice of words, as she didn't always seem to remember that you were blind. However, it did smell very nice. You thought it would have looked excellent on your sister, black with teal accents. Your grandmother apparently agreed, because she was now buying it and it was too big for you. Your sister was an inch taller, and probably about 30 pounds heavier than you. Making her about average weight, as you were severely underweight, and were about the size of the average 10-year-old girl.  
  
    As much as you hated to admit it, you had eventually found a dress that you liked. Your grandmother bought it the second you brought it to her. She had only bought two dresses and spent over 120 dollars. Being Kanaya's friend, you had never had to pay for a dress before. You suddenly found yourself thankful for that.  
  
    "Oh, Tez, you look beautiful... " Latula smelled starstruck, eyes widened slightly and mouth gaping.  
  
    "Thanks, Tula... " You replied, actually finding yourself smiling at the ridiculous compliment.  
  
    The two of you dressed in your normal clothing and thanked Miss Rosa before leaving for home to start cooking. Your grandmother, mother, and the two of you were making a traditional Russian meal, and that terrified you.  
  
    The meal you were making would consist of chicken lapsha, a noodle soup, kotlety, small pan-fried meatballs, similar to Salisbury steak, coulibiac, a fish loaf with rice, hard-boiled eggs, mushrooms, and dill, and lymonnyk, a Ukranian lemon pie. It would be a long few hours of cooking, an activity you did not necessarily enjoy, but hopefully it would all be worth it in the end.

* * *

    It was 7:00, half an hour before Karkat should have been arriving, and your grandmother had just pulled the lymonnyk out of your small-but-functional oven while your sister and you had been upstairs changing into the dresses that she had bought you earlier that day. A knock resounded on the door, making you jump in anticipation. You rushed to answer the door before anyone else could, hoping that he had followed the brief advice that you had given him over the phone. You were thankful to find that he had. He was wearing a nice suit, and his dull red tie was perfectly straight, which actually surprised you. You placed a quick kiss to his cheek and smiled softly.  
  
    "Hey. " You two hadn't had a conversation of any real length in days and you were thankful that you finally could, because it had been killing you to be separated from him that long without even the option to call or text him. But, he was here now and that was all that really mattered to you.  
  
    "You look beautiful. " He bent his neck forward slightly to place a soft kiss on your lips before you invited him inside, a soft blush decorating your cheeks. He was sure to be surprised by the sheer amount of food you had made, seeing as he had grown up poor and had probably never seen one meal of this size in his entire damn life. Your grandmother just enjoyed overdoing things. Your grandmother was, luckily, always dressed formally, so she did not look like an overworked housewife upon exiting the kitchen. She seemed pleased.  
  
    "Ah, you must be the young Karkat Vantas that Limonnyy and I have heard so much about! " She held out her hand politely, Karkat taking it and kissing the back of her hand gently before hooking his arm around your elbow. You had never witnessed him acting this politely before, and to be honest, it was sort of hot. "Such a polite young man. I am Berri Dykhaniye Pyrope, Terezi's grandmother, but you may call me babushka. " He nodded.  
  
    "As you know, I'm Karkat Vantas, I'm your granddaughter's boyfriend. I've heard a lot about you and Limonnyy as well, so it's really a pleasure to finally meet you. Might I inquire as to where your husband is? " It was as if Karkat was a completely different person. It made you really nervous that he could just act so differently around other people.  
  
    "Limonnyy is in the kitchen. Dinner is in half an hour, so please, make yourself at home. " Your grandmother smiled pleasantly, Karkat walking away for a moment to go upstairs and use the bathroom. "I'm impressed, velikiy khudozhnik. You've caught one of the good ones. You cling to that boy with your life. " You smiled and nodded silently. The fact that Karkat was acting in a manor that pleased your babushka was all that was important to you in that very moment, and you prayed to whatever deities that would listen that he would keep it up.  
  
    After a minute, Karkat came back downstairs and you quickly took his hand, entwining your fingers. He seemed surprised, but you just rested your head on his shoulder and he shortly calmed down. "I missed you. " You whispered. He wrapped his free arm around your waist in a semi-defective hug.  
  
    "I missed you, too... " He sighed quietly and rested his chin on the top of your head. It would be the most embarrassing thing ever if your mother or your sister walked in on the close position, so you pulled away reluctantly.  
  
    "I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to you, but I wasn't allowed to... " He whined quietly and pulled you into yet another hug, making you just give up on caring if your family saw you or not and hug him back. He had been incredibly deprived of you in the last few days, anyway. You might as well have indulged him since he was behaving.  
  
     "It's fine. Just don't abandon me again. " You rolled your eyes at the term 'abandoned', as if he were a small puppy whom you left on a street corner to die, or to just be picked up by anyone. Then again, you sort of did do that, you just had every single intention of going back to see him after your grandparents had left. Still, you sort of understood where he was coming from. Kind of.  
  
     "I won't, I promise. " You smiled and kissed him softly. "I love you. " The words themselves were rare, however, the feeling was always there. That you loved him and hoped to be with him forever, even if you knew that was highly unrealistic. Still, your grandparents had been together since they were fourteen and had no troubles in their relationship, so maybe that would work for you and Karkat, too. You hoped that it did, because you knew for a fact that the two of you were too co-dependent and would probably have a mental break down. And that most certainly would not be good. This was one of the many reasons that you hoped your grandparents would still like him by the end of the visit.  
  
     "Alright, you two, it's time for dinner. " Your grandfather called sternly, making you nervous. You were reluctant to leave your close, warm position, but after all of the time you had spent making the meal, you wanted to actually eat some of it. Plus, just by listening to his voice you could tell that your ded was not amused by your closeness. You kissed his cheek before taking his hand and leading him to the dining room. It was a nicely sized room with hardwood floors and, during the colder seasons (which were rare here), a slightly, haunting echo that sometimes made you feel nervous. Why did it have to be winter?  
  
     Karkat stared wide-eyed at the food. As you knew, he had never seen so much food offered in just one meal. He had not grown up in a large home with lots of money and lots of freedom. His mother left when he was a baby, leaving his father alone to raise him and his brother Kankri, who was three years older than Karkat. Though he'd been an atheist since about the age of 5, he went to church with his dad and his brother every Sunday. Dinners were small and short.  
  
     "So, Karkat, tell us about yourself. You've been quiet the whole meal. " Your grandfather points out about halfway through the first course, lapsha. It'd only been about ten minutes, but that was unusually quiet for your family at dinner. Karkat's was always silent during meals, so it was not abnormal. The atmosphere seemed to change any time you would eat over and attempt to strike up conversation, which always made you feel unwelcome and alienated.  
  
     "Well, I guess I would consider myself pretty normal... I get average grades, with help of Terezi, being the prodigy that she is. I come from a small, religious family with very little money. Heh, I've never seen a meal this big before... Growing up, it was just my dad, Kankri, and me. When I was really young and still lived in New York, where I met your daughter for the first time, we lived by this really big park in this tiny apartment... we moved here when our place was broken into and robbed and we couldn't afford to pay rent quickly enough. My dad found a job here as a preacher, and the church pays for the house. My mom left when I was really little, but I know that she's alive and well... I have this little sister in San Fransisco, only, she doesn't really know that I'm her brother. Just a friend who's her age... She sends child support sometimes, but it's usually only once or twice a year... We never take it to court, though, because my dad knows that he'd lose. Um... My grandmother, Miss Rosa, and my aunts, Kanaya and Porrim, are a huge part of my life... They're always at my house, along with Kanaya's girlfriend, Rose... I work at their shop every other weekend to help earn food money... My brother should be in college, but he didn't earn a scholarship and we just don't have the money. So, he just works as a library assistant at the city library. Oh, and, as you can probably tell, when I was born, I had a rare disorder called albinism. I, of course, still have it... It's basically a lack of melanin, which messes with my hair and eye color, as well as my sensitivity to sunlight. " Karkat's story had always been tragic to you, and it always just made you want to cuddle him for hours until you knew that he felt better when he told it and tried (and failed) to hide his obvious sadness. He was apparently oblivious to the fact that you could always just tell when he was sad. The rest of your family, having never heard it, seemed to have been overtaken with an awkward mix of pity and guilt.  
  
     "You poor child... I am so sorry... " Your grandmother bowed her head in respect and Karkat nodded, sniffling slightly. He wiped at his eyes before turning away from the rest of the people at the table. "S-sorry, may I be excused? " Without waiting for an answer, he got up and almost ran upstairs. You looked around sadly at your family before quickly hurrying after him. You caught him bent over on his hands and knees in the upstairs hallway, crying silently. You wrapped your arms around him, making him jump before realizing it was you and quickly enfolding you in a hug.  
  
     "I'm sorry, Karkat... she didn't know, I should have told her myself before you got here and had to explain. I just wasn't thinking, and I didn't want her to pity you. " He just silently shook his head and buried his face in your shoulder, making you wince slightly from the shock of the moment before crushing him against your chest. "I'm sorry. "  
  
     "I love you too. "  
  
     "What? "  
  
     "I didn't get to say it back... before dinner... I didn't get to say it back before your grandfather came to get us... " He seemed so upset, and you knew that wasn't the real reason why. But, you would take it for the time being.  
  
     "Oh, Karkat, it's okay... I don't care. I just want you to be okay. You're so upset and I know that telling those stories are hard for you and I'm so proud that you managed to do it and managed to not cry for as long as you did. " And you were. He almost never managed to even finish telling the stories about his mom and about his poor family. And you knew it to be a fact that he, for whatever reason, thought that he was a mutant and a freak because he was an albino. You were slowly getting him out of the habit of despising himself because of it, though.

     "It's not okay... I couldn't stop myself from flipping my shit and crying like a fucking idiot... my shit did a fucking pirouette off of the Empire State Building. " He choked back a soft sob and you pulled him closer, frowning deeply. It was times like this when you just wished that you could do something for him other than be a shoulder to cry on. When you wished that you could just magically fix all of his problems and never see him sad again.

     "Come on, you'll be okay... " You frowned and sighed quietly, kissing him softly. "I'm sorry that you freaked out back there, but I'm sure you'll be fine... I love you, and I know that you can get through this because you are strong and you are brave and you are Karkat Vantas. You're a badass and you make shit that you want to happen happen because you are the perfect leader and the _best_ boyfriend. " This was one of your many techniques to calming him down. You had to have a lot if you wanted to be his girlfriend, otherwise you would just be really useless and the entire relationship would be pretty much one-sided.

     "...I love you too. "

     "I know. "

     "Thanks for coming up here to calm me down... "

     "It's my job. "


	15. Jail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat and Terezi go to jail. Sort of.
> 
> From Karkat's POV.

     You had never thought you would be in this situation. Driving Terezi to the city _jail_ because her idiot of a best friend had decided it would be a smart idea to drive at twice the speed limit, and then... er... get hostile with the police officer. _Who punches a fucking cop in the face?!_ The two of you should not have been the ones to have to pick her up. It should have been her foster parents, or her sister, but nooo, Terezi wanted you to drive her so  _she_ could pick her up. It was fucking ridiculous, but it wasn't like you were about to just say no to her and make her ask her sister, and then explain exactly _why_ Vriska was in jail. She would never talk to you again!

     "I still think-- "

     "We are _not_ turning around! She's my _best friend_ and I don't see any reason to just leave her alone in jail until her dad gets off of work, only so he can beat the shit out of her when they get home! " She knew you too well.

     "It's not my fault that she decided to punch a cop in the fucking face! And maybe she should learn to fucking drive! Those numbers, on the signs, yeah, those are the speed limit. _For driving_ _!_ " She just rolled her eyes at you while you stopped at a stop sign, making sure there were no other dumbasses out at _2:00 AM_ before continuing forward. It aggravated you, how close she and Vriska were. Like the two most annoying people in your life decided to team up and be 10-hours-of-[Nyan Cat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4) levels of annoying.

     "I know it's not your fault! It's not anyone's fault! I just don't want her to have to sit in jail. Alone. Waiting for someone to pick her up. I'm just glad she even got the courage to drive, let alone get _in_ a car, after the accident! That was really brave of her and I'm sort of glad that she's improving. " You just sighed, focusing on the road. She was trying to guilt you, like always. And it was working, like _fucking_ always.

     "Fucking-- fine! It doesn't even matter. I know that she's your best friend so lets just go fucking get her. We're like ten minutes away, now, anyway, so there would be no point in turning around... " You grumbled.

     Sure enough, ten minutes later, you pulled into the parking lot of the city's jail, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind you before shoving the keys into your pocket. You knew that you were unreasonably pissed off, but that didn't mean that you just _weren't_ pissed off anymore. It just meant that you knew you had no reason to be. Terezi walked around the front of the car to you, pressing her cold hands to your chest and kissing you softly. Fuck, she was like ice. It was always fucking like this. Her freezing, a contrast to your permanent furnace-like heat. You were pretty sure that your warmth alone was part of the reason she even dealt with your bullshit and stayed with you when you both knew she could do better.

     Nonetheless, your arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer, betraying you. She leaned back against the car and nipped your lower lip before you finally pulled away. "Fuck... we have to get Vriska... Which, I'd like to point out, was your dumbass idea. " Part of you was glad you reminded her so that she couldn't whine at you about it later, and the other half was annoyed with yourself that you had stopped the kiss.

     "Right, sorry. I didn't mean to get distracted. " She smirked and kissed your neck a few times, making you blush upon remembering that she was wearing lipstick. And not just lipstick, _black_ lipstick. "We'll continue this later. " She took your hand, interlacing your fingers before walking right on forward like nothing had just happened out here. How the fuck did she even do that?!

 

* * *

 

 

     "Fuck you! I am a perfectly fine driver and it is most certainly not my fault if you don't see that! "

     "Yes, as a matter of fact, it is, Miss Stare-At-The-Solar-Eclipse-Or-You're-A-Wimp! "

     "We were fucking _six years old_ , get over it already! I think it's really fucking childish of you to just hold that against me like you are. "

     "Childish?! I'm _blind_ , Vriska! _Forever_! Because of a stupid dare! It has been ten years, and where you are _not_ still six, I _am_ still blind! So do me a fucking solid and just _learn how to fucking drive!_ " It had been three hours of this nonsense. Those two bickering while you tried to drive Vriska home. You had no idea how the fuck you were even enduring this. Terezi said that she had wanted to be there for Vriska in her time of need, but in actuality, you were starting to think it was just because she really wanted to yell at Vriska before either of her parents or her sister got the chance.

     "I know how to drive! I just wasn't paying attention! In case you forgot, I am _half blind and don't even have a fucking right eye_ _!_ So next time you lecture me, why don't you try to be a little more thoughtful about _my_ disability?! " They were both being over dramatic, but if you said that, you would probably get a fucking knife in the back.

     "Oh, _your_ disability! Because _I_ was the one driving that car when the accident happened! It's _all_ my fucking fault! I'm not even legally fucking _allowed_ to drive because of that stupid dare ten years ago! So don't even fucking go there, Vriska! " They both seemed legitimately angry at each other, and that actually scared you a little.

     "Well, I'm sorry! "

     "Oh, I'm fucking su-- "

     "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! " You finally yelled, both of their attentions snapping to you. "I have fucking _had it_ with this constant arguing! You're both _ridiculous!_ "

     "But she-- " Terezi started, but you growled quietly and cut her off.

     "I don't give a _shit_ what she did, just _figure it out._ I do not want to hear a word out of _either of you_ until you can both say sorry _and mean it_ _._ Start thinking about your damn apologies. " It was silent for the next half hour before Vriska finally sighed and started to apologize.

     "I'm sorry that I blinded you all those years ago. I was six and stupid and didn't really understand that you could have even gone blind from the solar eclipse. I just thought it would be cool and nice if you could watch it. " She mumbled quickly, but it was clear that Terezi had heard what she said, as she nodded in understanding.

     "And... I'm sorry that I was being such a bitch about your accident... and about today. I know that you can drive, I was just mad and irrational and went with the first insult that came to mind. And... Congratulations on finally getting your prosthetic arm... It's great that people won't make fun of you because of your arm, now. "

     "It's okay... " Vriska said, frowning. You pulled over the car in front of her house and watched Vriska climb out. You didn't drive away until she was inside and Terezi nodded to you.

     "So... am I dropping you off or are you coming over? " You smirked. It was meant to be a sarcastic remark, as you knew that it was about 3:30 AM by now, but you knew that she might come over. And you knew what would happen if she did. Once you were at a reasonable place to stop (a stop sign in front of Kanaya's house) you turned to her, but, rather than replying, she just crawled into your lap and kissed you. You kissed back, keeping your foot on the brake.

     "Why go to either? Kanaya's house is right here. I'm sure your dad won't care if you sleep over at your aunts. " She smirked and placed a hand on the stick shift, grinding against you.

     "F-fuck! " You blushed lightly and groaned. "T-Terezi, I don't think my _grandmother_ \-- " You started, but she interrupted you.

     "Your _grandmother_ is out of town. Kanaya texted you that she couldn't believe Porrim was throwing a party while Miss Rosa was out of town for the next week. That was about two hours ago, so we can probably sneak right in past all of the drunk idiots. "

     You blushed lightly and pulled her closer, biting her lower lip. She took initiative and parked the car. You pulled away after a minute, opening the car door and picking her up, carrying her inside of the Maryam house. It's not like that was the first time you had brought Terezi to your aunt's house for the night, nor was it even the first time you had brought her to your aunt's house so that you two could have sex in the guest bedroom. It wasn't like Kanaya or Porrim had room to complain, as they had both brought Rose, or random guys (in Porrim's case), to your house to have sex in your bed while you were at Terezi's. Kankri always complained to you about it the next morning.

     "We don't want to have too much fun, okay? " She smirked. "We go back to school tomorrow. "

     You pinned her to a wall (once you were in the guest room). "Shut the fuck up... "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congratulations, this is officially the most NSFW chapter! Woo!


	16. Visitation Rights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat arrives at his mom and half-sisters' house in San Fransisco for a weekend long visit.
> 
> From Karkat's POV, obviously.

     No matter how much you begged, your mother was unwilling to allow you the simple pleasure of bringing Terezi with you on the dumbass visit to her home in San Fransisco. She claimed that it was just a family trip, to which you argued that you should, then, be allowed to bring Kanaya. You didn't mention that, even though she was only your aunt through adoption, you considered her more related to you than your biological mother. The fact was that you were sixteen and you should have been allowed to decide who you were allowed to bring when you visited your mom. Or, better yet, if you even visited your mom. But you did, once a month, due the visitation rights you still weren't sure how she won. After all, _she_ left because _she_ didn't want to raise four kids, let alone tell your dad that Meulin and Nepeta were the causes of her cheating on him with two different people whilst on supposed business trips to San Fransisco. But she still managed to reserve the right to drag you out there once a month for 'mother son bonding time'. If she really wanted bonding time, she would have stayed when you were born, so you were 99.9% convinced that she just wanted to torture you with activities like hunting and writing that most kids did with their dads.

     "Come on, Karkat, it isn't _that_ bad!" Nepeta whined at you from her position in the back seat, suddenly making you thankful you were in the passenger's seat and out of her reach. Of course she was forced to sit in the back seat, she was practically a baby anyway with the way that she acted. Although it wasn't like you could really blame your Mildly Autistic half-sister for her behavior. It really was her disability's fault and you knew that all too well. "You and Purrezi are practically attached at the hip, and you need to get ofur not talking to her efury second! Girlfuriend or not!"

     "You can't just get all grouchy because you are over-attached to some girl!" Meulin added, making you groan in frustration. Of course your deaf half-sister would somehow magically know what you were all talking about as if she had fucking telepathy. You blamed that boyfriend of hers.

     It seemed like, though, for once in his life, Kankri didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation. Then again, he usually was rather quiet around your mother. He had three more years to bond with her than you did, and you were pretty sure that your parents getting divorced a little over a month before he turned four practically traumatized him. Your parents separated when she was three months pregnant with you, and they got divorced about five months later. As you glanced back at everyone in the back seat, you saw the wide smiles on your sisters' faces as they chattered about something that you were sure was ridiculously stupid, as well as your brother sitting there with his arms crossed and his gaze focused outside the car as he stared blankly out the window, almost looking as if he was trying to be passive-aggressive about something. He was terrible at being passive-aggressive, though, so really he just looked bored.

     "Kankri, dear, if you keep your face like that too long it'll get stuck that way." Your mother called to the backseat, making you flinch. Her tone was filled with a sweetness that Terezi's mother couldn't even _pretend_. And the worst part was that it was genuine.

     "Getting his face stuck like that forever is better than being forced to be stuck with you for a  weekend..." You muttered, almost hoping that she couldn't hear you. It was possible that your mother was the nicest woman on Earth, but that didn't mean you weren't still terrified of her.

     "Oh, Karkat, you have your father's sense of humor." She laughed and you almost couldn't believe how easily she took the obvious insult. "Always making jabs at people whilst attempting to be passive-aggressive." You could plainly see her knuckles start to turn white as she gripped the steering wheel. "But that's alright, sweetheart. You're only a teenager, you don't really know who you like and dislike yet. That's why I wouldn't let you bring that stupid girlfriend of yo-"

     " _ **SHE'S NOT FUCKING STUPID** **!**_ She's the smartest girl in our fucking grade! Not to mention beautiful and one of the most resourceful girls that I've ever met. Her mother is constantly out of town on business trips and she's _still **three times**_ as loved and cared for by her mom as I am. She looks out for everyone that she meets even though she's blind, whether she likes or dislikes them! And if you paid any attention to Kankri or I's lives," At this point she was gaping at you and even Kankri had taken a break from staring out the window to look at you at the mention of his name. "you'd know that we've made up our minds about who we like and dislike. For example, you cheating on our dad and getting a divorce before he was even four fucking _traumatized_ him, and you didn't stick around more than a week after I was born, so we _dislike_ you. Terezi gives me a place to stay when I get in arguments with dad, and she chastises me when I break the house rules, so we _like_ her! That's her name, you know. Terezi.  _Not_ 'that stupid girlfriend of yours'. So _stop calling her that._ I understand that you're my _mother_ and therefore it's your job to dislike anyone I'm in a relationship with, but you _aren't_ my _mom_. You need to earn that title, and that means that you need to actually be around. Maybe you should start by coming out to San Diego sometimes rather than dragging us to your fucking house once a month. Maybe you'd put effort in if you actually cared about us, though."

    Everyone in the car was silent for a moment, staring at you as you gasped for breath. Your mother opened her mouth and closed it three consecutive times as if trying to decide whether or not to say something, and it looked as if Kankri wanted to add onto your rant, but had nothing else to say on the matter. Nepeta just stared at you, wide-eyed. The only person in the car who didn't seem phased was Meulin, wide cat-like smile still splitting her face as she looked around at everyone else in the car, seeming incredibly confused. You were suddenly thankful that your older half-sister was deaf, thankful that _someone_ in the car hadn't heard you explode on your shared mother.

    "Yes, well, I think we've all done enough talking for now. I'll just turn on some music and-- Oh! Look, it's the house..." Your mother called happily. Kankri quickly explained to Meulin in sign language, something he had made sure to learn after the second visit you two had so that he could get to know your sister, what you had said as they climbed out of the car and she gasped, quickly signing back. At this point, it was plain to you that they were gossiping in the annoying language you refused to learn.

 


	17. Brother Conferences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From Karkat's POV.

     You knew that it was wrong of you to think. That you would be chastised for it by any living being on the Earth with a brain and a moral code. But you were absolutely sure that you could say with one hundred percent certainty that you _despised_ your mother with a burning passion. She was nice and she took everything as a lighthearted joke. She cared about everyone she came into contact with with the exception of maybe you and Kankri. And yet somehow, this kind, loving woman had the nerve to not only abandon you at less than a week old, but she also insult your  _amazing_ girlfriend.

     "Karkat! Get down here, you loner, it's time for dinner! And get your brother, too, please, he won't listen to a word I say!" You flinched at her melodic voice calling up the stairs to summon you for dinner. You simple grumbled to yourself under your breath as you stood, knocking on the other guest room's door across the hall. You heard what sounded like a "Busy" and sighed softly at the pathetic sound.

     "Kankri, it's me, Karkat. And I don't give a shit what you say, I'm coming in." You groaned through the white-washed, old, wooden door before opening it to let yourself inside of the musty room. You just as quickly closed it behind you, before sitting on his bed next to him. "Are you ever going to come out of here?" No answer. "You need to get over it eventually. She left and now she's trying and no matter how much we hate it we have to try, too. Try to get used to seeing her. I mean, this has been going on every month for about a year now, and it's not going to stop happening until we don't live with dad anymore. Those are the rules." He just sat there silently, red wool-covered arms remaining crossed over his chest grumpily. "Sorry to say you might be stuck like this forever." You teased, knowing that there was a pretty good chance that he would never move out of your dad's place. After a minute of silence, you sigh and get up to leave, making him sit up slightly straighter.

     "Going so soon? Mother would have stayed until I at least said _something._ " You weren't sure if it was a complaint or a cry for help, but it was enough to make you sit down and attempt to endure interaction with your brother because it's better than interaction with your horrid mother.

     "You don't have to call her that, you know... I know she wasn't around that long and you might not know it, but I'm pretty sure you do, and her name isn't cursed or anything." You waited for him to talk again, slumping in disappointment when he didn't. You so badly wanted to talk to him. For once in your life, you would have rather talked to your brother than do anything else available. But for once in _his_ life, he didn't feel like talking. It had been like that over the last 14 months. Everything would be normal, Kankri would be just as annoying as he always was, your dad would make jokes about Terezi or any of your other online friends (though mostly Terezi after you two had formed an established relationship). And then suddenly, you'd go to visit your mom and he'd lose all of his energy to some version of himself in an alternate dimension where he was happy and not there. He would be a cold, silent shell of himself.

     "I just want to go home..." He finally mumbled, and you leaned slightly closer to hear him better. "I want to be with father and Porrim and all of my other friends. I want to be able to lecture you, my younger brother, about getting home late and then have to listen to you stutter as you explain that you were just at Terezi's. I want to be away from our wretch of a mother who had the nerve to cheat on our father, not tell him about our two half-sisters, and then just abandon us. I want to have never had the chance to have met our mother at all..." He finished sadly, and you couldn't help but observe that if he had been too young to remember when your mother had left, you wouldn't have been born at all. 

     "I know, Kan... but, we just gotta deal with it. Mom's a huge pain, but at least she can cook." Your attempt at a joke clearly did not amuse him, and you laughed feebly instead before standing to be at your full height, a mere two inches shorter than him. "C'mon. It's dinner time. And as much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn't want to lose you to starvation, mopey pants."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry that these last couple of chapters have been so short, loves. School and sleeping schedules get in the way of everything.


	18. Once in a Memory

     _A girl who looked about your age stood in front of you, mildly transparent red glasses covering single-colored eyes that were obviously sightless. A Cheshire cat grin was plastered on her face, and you couldn't honestly call it flattering._

_"Is there something I can help you with?" You asked, and she shook her head at you wordlessly. Your father and older brother sat on a bench a few dozen feet away, and they didn't seem to think that she was bothering you in any significant enough way to come get you, so you tried not to mind her presence all too much. Due to your obvious, for the most part, ignoring of her, she cleared her throat in a way that seemed to be to attract your attention. You almost didn't catch it, thanks to paying her no mind._

_"My name's Terezi. What's yours?" She said expectantly, and you groaned inwardly. Now you would have to actually talk to her._

_"Karkat." You thought a moment and added, "Is there a reason that you're bothering me." Her grin faltered for a moment, and you actually felt bad for a second before it came back, wider than it had been before. She pushed her tinted glasses up the bridge of her nose, and you almost raised a brow a fraction in curiosity at the action. You wondered why she wore the stupid glasses, but you supposed you wouldn't ask about them. As far as you knew, few people made bright red glasses, and even less just went around making glasses in the shape that hers were, so you had to assume that they were custom made, and that she had enough money to afford custom made glasses._

_"It's nice to meet you Karkat!" Terezi practically squealed the statement, and you rolled your eyes at her._

_"So, how old are you, Terezi?" You asked, figuring that it was only polite to try to get to know the annoying girl who was so_ insistent _on talking to you, as if you were the most interesting person she had ever met. Then again, most people didn't have snowy white hair and crimson eyes, so you very well may have been._

_"I turned six today." She was grinning still, though now it looked more genuine and proud than creepy and unnecessary, so you supposed it was a little better. It was fractionally smaller, too, which took away from the crazed look like she was about to eat you._

_"You're six? I'm six too, but I'm not a baby, so I didn't turn six today." You said, grinning at her a little as she stuck her tongue out at you. You looked back at Kankri and your dad, and saw Kankri gone, his seat filled instead with a young woman. She held a phone in her hand, staring at it in a way that seemed rather nervous. It only took you a minute to realize that she was talking to your dad, and another to realize that she was Terezi's mom. You looked around in the attempt to find your brother, and saw him on the swings next to a girl who looked a lot like Terezi but with longer hair, and square shaped glasses as opposed to pointed ones._

_"Do you know that boy?" Her voice was a surprise, and you turned back to face her._

_"He's my brother..." You said, and the look on her face indicated that she was surprised. Had she just thought that you had come to the park by yourself? To be fair, it wasn't as if you looked like any of your family members, although you were 90% sure that the girl standing in front of you was blind._

_"He doesn't smell like you." Her words shocked you more than hearing her voice had but a moment ago. Smell was an odd word for her to be using. You had heard that when someone went blind, their other senses were sharpened, but it freaked you out a little to consider that someone could just identify the difference between you and your brother by smell. You doubted you'd ever make friends with this freaky girl._

_"What do you mean, he doesn't smell like me? How can you smell him? Like, all the way from over here. For that matter,_ how can you smell me?!"  _You muttered the entire statement, more out of the fact that you were embarrassed to even be having this conversation than as a respect for her privacy._

_"Oh! I'm blind. I have been since I was four, and I guess I just adapted by growing with my other senses, not that it was on purpose or anything, more like it was just a nice little benefit. Unlike most other blind people, though, I guess I'm just more reliant on my senses of smell and taste than I am on touch and hearing, not that I'm not reliant on touch and hearing, just less so!" It was as if it was all one stream of a sentence, coming out at the speed of a car on the highway. You just stared at her blankly._

 

* * *

 

     _Your arms wrapped around Terezi's small frame in the attempt at a friendly, comforting hug. You weren't sure what else you could do as the short blind girl sobbed into your shoulder, clothes entirely black. She was a stark contrast to her usual self, glasses no where to be seen, clothes lacking color completely, no words to be spoken. You looked to her family, Latula and their mother, with a pleading expression, asking for answers without saying anything. Latula was as white as paper, blank faced and, for once, completely silent. Her black hair had been cut so it was only down to her chest as opposed to her mid-back, though it was still longer than Terezi's. Their mother was flat out sobbing, and also wore all black. The only one with any color to their clothes at all was Latula, actually, due to the fact that she was not, unlike Terezi, glasses-less._

_"I-it's my dad..." Terezi cried, and your eyes widened a fraction as realization hit you. You stroked her hair, shushing her softly. This was the first time all month that you had seen her, due to a visit to your mother's house the first weekend of the month, which ranged from fifth to the seventh, and her being busy every day before that, as well as the last couple of days. It was Wednesday the eighth, so this was just a horrible way to start out the month._

_She seemed like she hadn't talked all day before now. Her voice was raspy and she sounded like someone who had spent a large portion of their life smoking, which was odd, because you knew for a fact that she had never picked a cigarette up in her entire life. She was very close-minded for a seven year old, although it wasn't like you smoked._

_"It's gonna be okay, 'Rezi. I'm sure it's not as bad as it sounds..." She flinched at the words and you bit your lip softly. "I mean... Things'll get better, Terezi... I'm always here for you, and you can talk to all of our other friends." She just squeaked sadly at that and practically clung to you, making you worry. You didn't need to ask for an explanation._

_"No, you won't always be there Karkat!" She squealed, and that made you curious._

_"Terezi, of course I'm always going to be here, what are you even talking about?" She sniffled and looked up at you, into your eyes._

_"I'm moving!" She cried out, and you stood there, frozen. Your arms felt like they were glued to her, and you realized that_ you _were now the one who was clinging._

 _"You aren't... You_ can't _move!" You protested, but she just nodded weakly. It wasn't fair. You two had been friends for a little over a year and she was just leaving you to go off somewhere far, far away. You weren't even sure what you two would use to keep talking, since she didn't even have an email._

 _"I'm sorry Karkat... I don't want to, but I_ have  _to! Mom says that we're going all the way out to Minnesota for a 'fresh_   _start'. I'll still visit sometimes, because my aunt is still here and we can't take her off of life support to move her, so it's not like we'll just n-never see each other again..." You just shook your head, blinking back tears of your own versus letting them spill like a baby, a petulant brat._

_"But it's not that simple, 'Rezi!" You yelled it, almost sounding angry. You weren't sure that she would understand that you were more mad at yourself than at her. You'd developed a bit of a crush on her, and you hadn't even told her and now she was leaving. "You're going far away and we'll never be able to talk or hang out ever again!"_

_"But that's not true! You... you have a Trollian, right? Latula never uses hers anymore, and I can ask her and she's sure to let me use it! We can talk that way and I'll get on every day and it'll be like nothing changed!" You frowned a little before nodding. The only condition on which you could use a computer was at the library, and remembering that her family had one for them all to share, a sort of communal computer was a little bit upsetting. It only reinforced the idea in your mind (more memory, really, because it wasn't as if it was just some theory you had made up) that her family was better off than you._

_"I... Yeah, I do... carcinoGeneticist..." She grinned sadly at you, a pale imitation of her usual one, and you hugged her tighter for a moment before letting go._

_"I think hers is gallowsCalibrator..." Terezi looked over her shoulder at her sister, receiving a curt nod of confirmation from her and turning back around to face you. After she kissed your cheek, it took a lot of effort to groan and wipe at your cheek as opposed to leaning forward and returning the gesture. You still leaned to press a kiss to her forehead, though it only served to make you more sad._

_"The funeral is on Friday... You can tell your whole family that you're all welcome to come..." You stared up at the tall, slender woman in front of you for a moment before just nodding glumly. Terezi hugged you quickly for what was, unfortunately, the last time before you turned to leave._

 

* * *

 

 

_You were quick to answer the Skype call, smiling softly at the girl through the camera. It was a new program, having only come out a few months ago, but the second you heard about it, you begged your dad to let you have one. You could tell from the unsteady video that she was video calling you from her phone rather than on her laptop, and it didn't take you long at all to figure out why that was._

_"You're dying your hair?" You asked, and she beamed at you. It almost made you want to laugh cheerfully. You hadn't seen her face, her eyes, her hair, her_ grin _since she first moved away from New York. Granted, you didn't live there anymore either, having moved to shitty California three years ago, but it still mattered._

_"Not all of it! I'm just dying the tips, and it's only two colors!" Your eyes widened slightly at the mention of 'two colors'._

_"Two colors? Terezi, I don't even know anyone with_ one color  _in their hair! And you're adding two?" You thought a moment. You felt a little bit rude in telling her that you didn't know anyone else who had dyed their hair. It wasn't actually mean, but it felt like it. "What colors?" You asked the question, convincing yourself that it was alright to feel at least a little bit better about your previous statement due to the question. Hopefully she wouldn't be too upset, although if you knew Terezi, she wouldn't do much aside from pout and tease you about the harsh words. Instead she just grinned._

_"Teal and red! I'm only doing the tips. Well, Latula's doing them, but still!" She grinned wider before it faded all together. "I wish you still lived in New York... We're going out there to visit Aunt Dragon this weekend, and you'd be able to see it..." She frowned a little, and you smiled weakly at her. You'd almost forgotten her nickname for her aunt._

_"Why teal? I mean, I know red's your favorite color, so I won't question that, but why teal?" She perked up a little at that, and you sighed a little in relief at seeing her smile again, although it wasn't close to her previous grin. You didn't even care that she wasn't as happy as she was before. As long as she was happy, you were at least somewhat satisfied, although you would have been more satisfied, admittedly, if she had been grinning again._

_"It reminds me of me! I mean, I just picked out a color at the store that smells like I smell. It's Blue Raspberry candy with just the slightest hint of saltwater. And I didn't get the red because it's my favorite color! I mean, that was part of the reason, but not all of it."_

_"Oh? Then what was the real reason?"_

_"It reminds me of how you smell!" She grinned again, and you blushed lightly. You remembered her saying something about how you always smelled like cherries and gunmetal, but you hadn't expected her to remember that after so long. "I didn't want to ever forget, so I'm going to dye it red!"_

_"That's..." You started, but couldn't really find the right wording. You thought a moment and tried again. "That's really sweet of you, Terezi... Thanks a lot, I mean that... If I was less paranoid about how easy it is to dye my hair, I'd probably dye it teal because that's what you smell like to you and you're dying your hair because you want it to smell partially like me, and..." You sighed softly, shaking your head a little. "More fucking ridiculous reasons..."  She offered you a smile, and you returned it._

_"It's okay, Karkat. I got what you were trying to say." You were about to reply when she made a noise between a squeal of excitement and a flat out scream. You actually checked to make sure your ears weren't bleeding, and she rolled her eyes at you. "I've gotta go now, we're actually dyeing it! I'll call you again later."_

_"Yeah, later..." You said, and she hung up without another word. Your thirteen year old mind was quickly scolding you for not saying more. Telling her how you felt would have been so_ stupid _, though, and you knew that. She was a good friend, and you didn't want to mess everything up and lose her because you told her how you felt. Told her that you thought she was the most beautiful, smart, witty person you'd ever met. And you didn't want to embarrass yourself by admitting to yourself you were cheesy enough to say that sentence out loud. You were pretty done with her teasing you about watching romcoms._

_It took you all of seven seconds to answer the call when she called you back forty-six minutes later._


	19. Author's Note

Hello everyone! It's Darla, the author, here with an announcement that many of you will probably find disappointing. However, the end news is exciting and I ask that you stick around to hear it, because it is sort of important and will only be available information for a limited amount of time.

I have decided to orphan Something New. The fic itself is being written at too slow a rate, I have very little enthusiasm about the story itself anymore, and my headcanons have changed so much since I started writing this that I figure it is time to get rid of it before people read it and get the wrong idea. I will be orphaning it on January 1, and since I am only orphaning the work and not deleting it, that means it will still be available to the public, AKA you guys.

HOWEVER, I will begin re-writing it on March 5. Why that specific day, you may ask? Well, friends, there is really only one holiday (at least one holiday that I celebrate, which is hardly a holiday, anyway) that month, it is toward the end of the school year, which means I probably won't be buried underneath a mountain of schoolwork, and it is after Visioncon, plus it is on a Saturday, which is a bonus. For a couple of months after that, I will try to maintain an every-two-week update schedule, but during the summer, updates will be weekly or bi-weekly. Hopefully in the more updated version of Something New, I can employ my writing style properly and have it be less OOC and awful in general, and have Karkat and Terezi's relationship be a little bit less rushed and more developed, while also including my newer, more permanent headcanons.

Some things to be looking forward to: Still ten million ships, slightly larger and much more interconnected families, names for the ancestors (so it isn't awkwardly his dad, your mom, Mr. Vantas, etc.), a broader range of ethnicities/races, and more of the other characters in general. Specifically a lot more of the Leijons, because part of my headcanons changing (which I believe changed like halfway through this fic) includes the Vantas/Leijon half-siblings.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of things I am trying to figure out on here (for example, I have no idea how to do pesterlog format on AO3, and if you ever want to help with anything that would be the best way to), but I am doing my best.

So, in (somewhat) quick summary: I, Darla, writer of 13 fanfictions on Archive of Our Own, will be _orphaning_ one of my fanfics, Something New, on January 1, 2016, to allow continual access to the work itself while still being able to re-write it on my personal account, AbelinCilion69 (or chronicAngel, I have always wondered what it shows up as), in a way that better suits my headcanons and overall goals for the piece itself. I will be posting the first chapter of the newly written work on March 5, 2016, because that is the most convenient time  _for me_  to do it.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to comment! Have a nice morning/afternoon/evening/night! ~chronicAngel


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